


Pirouettes&Flips

by ranger_nct



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dance, Alternate Universe - High School, Coming Out, Multi, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:11:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 34,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26190160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ranger_nct/pseuds/ranger_nct
Summary: -Can he ignore his past and see what’s in front of him?>After the disaster, can he fall in love again?>You can find this story on Wattpad with the same name<
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 8
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

"Renjun! Are there any boxes left in your room? If so hurry up we will be leaving in 5 minutes!"

Renjun didn't even bother to answer his mom as he picked up the last box from the floor of his used to be bedroom and made his way downstairs. He wasn't very happy about this whole moving to a new city thing but he knew they didn't have another chance. His father has already delayed his promotion for two months just so Renjun wouldn't have to exchange schools in the middle of the term. 

To be honest he didn't really mind moving to a new city, you could even say he was a little excited about it. He didn't even care much about the fact that he had to leave his school, his only problem was leaving his dance studio. He has been going there since he was five and he loved the place. He loved his dance teachers and all of his friends. They have been joining national as well as international competitions all together for twelve years and now he had to leave all those memories behind with the people that were part of them. They had a sleepover as well as a goodbye party in the studio last night but Renjun had to leave early in the morning so he didn't have chance to see everyone when he got up to leave. Just a few of them woke up when they heard him and fell back to sleep as soon as Renjun left. 

A little smile crawled up to his lips as he handed the last box to his father. He was thinking about last night and all the stupid things they did. His father saw the sadness in his sons eyes but he didn't say anything. He left the possible emotional talk to his wife since he never knew what to do in these kind of situations. 

Once all the boxes have been settled in the trunk of their car Renjun opened the back door and placed himself comfortably in the back of the car. The road was going take around five hours and there was no way he could sit still for that long. When his parents finally got in the car as well his father started the engine and they made their way towards their new house with the truck which had their furniture and other things from their old house following them behind.

\---

"Dude I'm telling you she totally has a crush on you! She has been staring straight at you for the past fifteen minutes why don't you just go and talk to her?" Jeno rolled his eyes at his bestfriend who was sitting on the floor in front of him and isn't willing to take no as an answer. 

"Jaemin I'm telling you this for the last time. I don't even know her why on earth would I go and talk to her just because she has been staring? Also you're right in front of me she might be staring at you as well!"

"Believe me if she was staring at me we would have been talking already and probably arranging a date for tomorrow night. But no, she is staring at you and you're totally ignoring her!" 

"WHAT'S UP BITCHES!?" Jaemin and Jeno stopped arguing about the girl when the owner of the loud sound dropped his body in front of them. They both rolled their eyes at the brown haired boy. 

"Good morning to you too Haechan" 

"Yeah, whatever" Haechan got himself comfortable on the floor and put his head on Jaemin's knees. He knew the pink haired boy wasn't comfortable in this situation, which was making him enjoy it more. He really was a pain in the ass for his friends.

"Haechan thanks to you I got rejected by a girl last day because she thought I was gay!" Haechan took this chance and started clinging on him even more.

"Don't you enjoy it when I clinge onto you baby?" As he was starting to wrap his arms around the pink haired boys shoulders Jaemin stood up making him land on the ground just like when he first arrived. At this point Jeno was laughing with everything he has while holding his phone recording the moment. He had way too many videos like this on his phone but that didn't stop him from filming it again. The eyes which were focused on three friends ever since Haechan entered the room lost their focus on them when the head of the studio came in. Everyone got up from the floor looking at the red haired man who was in his twenties.

"Hello everyone, I'm Taeyong the head of SM Dance Studios. Thanks for coming to our competition troupe auditions. There are quite a lot of new faces I'm seeing, which is amazing. New faces mean new talents. I hope everyone will enjoy their time in auditions. Auditions will last for two days; first day choreography, second day freestyle. Because of the amount of people we will put you in two groups as in morning and afternoon. Now Mr. Ten, who is one of our best choreographers, will hand you envelopes" Three friends have been dancing in this studio over ten years, Mr. Ten was their hip-hop teacher and he has been teaching the three ever since they joined the studio. They were really close, in fact they were close with all of the teachers in the studio including the head, Taeyong. 

"If you have white card you are part of the morning group, if its black card it means you will be auditioning afternoon. Afternoon group might go to the café under the building or go to empty studios to practice. If you want you can also stay here and watch the auditions, it's up to you. You will have different choreographies but they will both be advanced on the same level so no need to worry" 

Everyone was looking at the cards in their envelopes. After checking his own Jeno quickly glanced at his two friends' cards. Jeno and Haechan were together in the morning group. Jaemin pouted at his card as he was in the afternoon group. 

"Guess I'll watch you losers from the back"

\---

It has been two weeks since Renjun and his family moved in the city. His father started working the next day they arrived. His mom also has arranged a job for herself in the city before they moved which she started one week after her husband. Renjun on the other hand looked for the dance studios that were in the city. Yes, he had to leave his old studio but he had no intentions on quitting dance. 

He stared at the black card in his hand which meant he was going to be auditioning afternoon. SM Dance Studio was one of the best on national level and Renjun has competed against them in the past. If he makes it into the competition troupe that probably means he might have to compete against his old studio in the future. He wasn't really happy with the thought of it but he didn't have much of a choice either. 

He started moving to back of the studio and sit on the floor with a few more people around him. He wanted to watch the morning auditions so he would have an idea on what he is up against and also have an idea on the choreography. He watched the dancers lining up in front of the mirror as he slightly stretched his legs in the butterfly position. Mr. Ten gave the dancers five minutes to warm up and stretch quickly before starting to teach the choreography. It was short but strong. It was mostly based on hip-hop but had enough amount of contemporary to see both sides of the dancers. Mr. Ten did the choreography from top to bottom for one last time and then left the dancers to work on their own. They had twenty minutes to rehearse the choreography. 

As Renjun was watching the dancers in front of him someone stumbled on his leg. He flinched at the sudden action and put his legs together as he stared at the pink haired guy above him. 

"I'm so sorry I didn't see you there I was just trying to pass, did it hurt?" Wow, he was talking so loud that a few couple of eyes turned to look at them. Renjun felt a little embarrassed.

"It's okay, no need to worry" he quickly mumbled. Pink haired guy smiled at him and continued his way towards his friends. Renjun followed him with his eyes. He was tall, thin and beautiful. Yes, he was beautiful. Renjun then moved his eyes at the other two guys. Brown haired one was jumping up and down telling something to others. He probably was a little shorter than them but Renjun couldn't tell for sure since he was jumping. Other black haired one seemed more serious than the other two. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt, standing with a confidence that was bigger than Renjun's height and a few strands of his hair falling from his face. He was... attractive. That was the only word that came to Renjun's mind when he saw the boy. When he realized that he has been staring for so long he quickly turned his eyes to his lap playing with his fingers. He could feel his face getting red from the thought of someone realizing that he has been staring there for that long.

When he heard Mr. Ten walking in he tilted his head up from his lap. Choreographer called out nine dancers to dance first. There were three rows with three dancers for each row. Seeing the black haired boy in the center of front row didn't surprise Renjun. The boy was obviously confident with everything he has. With sudden scream coming from his side Renjun turned to his side just to see pink haired boy cheering for his friend. He wasn't even aware that he had sit there.

"GO JENOOOOOOO!" His name is Jeno then, Renjun thought to himself.

"YES BABY SHOW THEM WHAT DANCING REALLY IS" when a louder scream was heard Renjun looked at the brown haired boy who was standing on the side with other dancers who were waiting their turn to be called out. As the two boys' cheer went on everyone in the studio was laughing including Renjun and Mr. Ten.

"Alright Haechan I think that cheer was enough for Jeno" When the choreographer spoke up the boys stopped cheering and the laughing sounds died slowly. 

Once the music started nine dancers in front of the mirror started moving the way choreographer showed half an hour ago. Renjun couldn't help but look at Jeno throughout the whole choreo. He was adding some extra moves in between the steps making the choreography look more smooth. He was good. Really good actually. After the dancers were done Ten called out another nine names, including Haechan. Renjun watched other groups carefully following their steps with his eyes.

"Alright everyone you're free to leave now. Afternoon auditions will start in forty minutes. After them we will give you the list of the names who made it to tomorrows freestyle auditions"

Renjun had forty minutes before his audition started but he didn't have much to do so he just kept sitting in the same place looking around. When he looked in the mirror his eyes met with Jeno's. Renjun didn't expect it so he directly moved his eyes to the wall. Jeno didn't expect it as well, but the way light haired boy turned his eye away made Jeno smile. He was cute.


	2. Chapter 2

Jeno, Haechan and Jaemin were currently sitting in the café which was located under the studio building. Because of its location, the café has been the place they visit the most other than the studio itself. Due to constant competitions they always had either troupe rehearsals or dance classes. 

"Mr. Ten really made us work with those choreographies. They were much harder than previous years" First day of auditions was over and they were now chatting about the day.

"Well, there were also more people to eliminate. After last years national competitions our studio became quite well known"

"I wish we could have been to internationals as well" Jeno brought his eyes down whilst Jaemin kicked Haechan under the table. Haechan cursed himself as he realized what he did.

"Jeno I didn-"

"It's alright. I know you didn't mean it that way" Yes he knew but that didn't stop him from blaming himself. After all he was the reason why they couldn't go to internationals. When Jaemin realized the boy was starting to get lost in his thoughts he wanted to make a change in the mood. He hated himself for what he was about to do but he decided to just go for it. His friend was more important than his ego.

"Jenooooooo" Jaemin used his clingiest voice to call his bestfriend. Both Jeno and Haechan blurted their eyes to the pink haired boy who still had his lips 'o' shaped. Jaemin of course would do this kind of stuff when they were alone together but him doing it in the middle of the café was new for everyone. Even the workers were looking at him surprised as they have always seen him as the 'cool' boy.

"Jaemin what on earth-" Before Jeno had chance to question him Haechan took the chance and went along with Jaemin as he started clinging onto Jeno. Having Haechan with him somehow made Jaemin more confident which led him to using his body. Soon, everyone in the café had their eyes focused on the three friends, including Renjun. All he wanted was a coffee but now he couldn't help to feel sorry for himself. Seeing those three reminded him of his friends. He missed them more than he imagined he would. Of course he was still in touch with them but it never felt the same as it used to be. Vibration coming from his pocket caused him to drop his attention from the three and he slid his hand in his pocket to take his phone out. Seeing the familiar name made him happy and he didn't waste a second to answer the call.

"Renjun! Are you done with the auditions? Did they accept you with the talent you don't have?" Not surprised with the high voice that just came from his phone, Renjun decided to ignore the roast since he just wanted to talk with the boy.

"We only did choreography today. Freestyle auditions are tomorrow" After a second of stop he continued.

"And yes, they let me pass todays auditions with the talent I don't have" he said mocking the youngers voice 

"Good for you. I can't wait to compete against you in the upcoming months"

"Yeah, I can't wait to win over you"

"Okay, you can keep on dreaming. What would life be without dreams, right?" Knowing his friend Renjun stopped answering, otherwise it would go on until next morning.

"Yeah, whatever. How are the others?"

"Hmm, depends. You want to know about the others or a specific one?" Renjun could easily hear the teasing in the boys voice.

"I want to know about everyone Chenle" 

"And maybe a little more about a specific one" Renjun quickly mumbled. The younger boy already knew everything so he didn't have much to hide.

"Well, Jun is alright and everyone is pretty much the same before you left. Now that I see, you being gone didn't make much of a difference"

"Hey, don't go overboard" Renjun knew the boys habit of teasing the shit out of everyone but sometimes he would go overboard without realizing. It was Renjun's responsibility to make him stop before he went that far.

"Okay, sorry. I guess everyone misses you, I might be included in it or not, can't tell for sure. I gotta go practice now, bye" Renjun rolled his eyes and put the phone back in his pocket. He wasn't expecting to have a normal conversation with the boy anyways. That's impossible if the person he was talking to was Chenle. He was about to leave the café when his phone vibrated again.

"Forgot to tell you, Jun said he was really missing you and he might have gotten a little teary" Renjun couldn't help but smile with the words. No, he wasn't happy with the fact that his crush got teary, he was happy because he obviously meant something to his crush. Renjun didn't want to bring his hopes up, everyone in the studio cared about each other as they were like a big family, but just this once he let it slid. He was missing them and having a little boost wouldn't hurt, right?

\---

"Alright everyone, after yesterdays auditions we are down to twenty people. You will be divided into two groups and will come out when I call your name. There will be twelve people in the official competition troupe but depending on your successes in lessons you can have chance at having solos, duets and small groups. This is not the end as long as you are in our company and you keep on improving yourselves. Just never stop practicing and always believe in yourselves" Every dancer in the room was listening to the head of the studio carefully and hoping that they will not be one of those eight people who will be eliminated. Mr. Ten read the first names, including Renjun and Jeno. As the ten dancers took their places in front of the mirror, the choreographer made his way to the speakers and arranged the song. Once the song started Mr.Ten started calling out names one by one. Renjun focused on the song. He has never heard it before which meant he needed to pay extra attention to the beats until his turn came.

"Jeno!" Renjun watched boy moving out as the dancer before him turned to its place. Other two boys in the back have already started chanting for their friend. Jeno started with some pop-locks and giving to the fact he was exactly on the beat Renjun guessed the boy already knew the song unlike him. The boys dancing was mostly hip-hop with some basic breakdance and acro. Renjun watched him doing a backflip and then a back layout. He always admired dancers with acro abilities since he was mostly doing technical dances like contemporary and ballet. Jeno moved back to his place as the choreographer called out another name. 

After three more dancers Renjun heard his own name and moved out with a grand jete which he turned into an illusion once he landed. He tried to keep up with the beat as he did some hip-hop moves as well. Lastly he did triple pirouette and let the next dancer come in. Jeno carefully watched the light haired boy moving back to his place. He loved his technique. They really could use him in the competition troupe since they were mostly doing hip-hop styles and lacking a little on the technical part. He would be perfect to cover it. Of course there were other great technical dancers in the auditions as well but Jeno slightly hoped Renjun would be the one. 

After the first group finished, rest of the dancers took their places in front of the mirror. Both Jeno and Renjun watched the dancers really carefully. Everyone was really good in their on ways. Everyone had their own strengths and weaknesses but they knew how to use them. That's what every dancer is being trained to do anyways.

Jeno watched both of his friends giving all they have to their dances. They were going to make it, he just knew. However he wasn't so sure of himself. Yes, he did good in the audition but he was scared that they wouldn't let him in the troupe because of last seasons competition. Would they just ignore the fact that he ruined everyones chances at going to internationals?

"Alright everyone, thanks for your participations. Mr. Ten and I will discuss a little and come back to you. All of you did great jobs but unfortunately we can't put you all in the competition team. Drink some water, take deep breaths and rest now. We'll be back" Once the head and the choreographer left the studio every single one of the dancers threw themselves on the floor. They didn't dance much but the stress really made them tired.

Three friends crawled closer to each other whilst Renjun took his phone out.

"Everyone was so good. I'm actually starting to doubt our chances at making it in"

"Jaemin don't be a fool. I mean yes, everyone was so good but we have been dancing here for years and we are one of the best dancers in the studio. I'm not saying let's be hundred percent sure of ourselves but thinking realistically our chances of not making it in is very low"

"Yes Jaemin, I watched you and Haechan you guys were one of the best ones that auditioned. You high possibly will make it in" Jaemin raised his eyebrows at Jeno.

"Hey! Why are you excluding yourself? You gave your all out there, honestly I don't remember seeing you dancing that strong ever before"

"Honestly I don't think they will let me in since I was the one who fucked up last time. They would not risk something like that. If it wasn't for you guys I wouldn't have even auditioned in the first place" Yes the boys knew that, they had to force their friend to audition. It took a long time for Jeno to agree.

"Jeno, everyone messes up it's totally normal. If they stopped choosing every dancer that messed up in the past years there wouldn't be much dancers left anyways. You didn't do well in one competition so what? You are also the reason that we won dozens of competitons" Haechan had a point. Actually a few points but he said these before too. They didn't work on Jeno then, will they now? 

"It's not about the fact that I messed up. It's about the reason I messed up. It was so stupid and I shouldn't have let it affect me like that. My problem is not dancing, it is me. I am the problem" Jeno got nervous thinking he might have revealed too much. His friends knew most of the story but there was this one part Jeno kept to himself and he wasn't planning on revealing it any time soon.

"Look, we will not fight over this again. You are wrong in so many ways but I also can see there is something else. Something you are not telling us and if you want to keep it that way, it's cool. We will not force you to say something you don't want to. But you really should stop blaming yourself. What happened has happened we can't change that. But Mr. Ten and Taeyong know you and what you are capable of. Also they always say that they only consider what we do in the auditions. Not before, not after only and only auditions. You killed it today. Plus, they let you pass yesterdays auditions, right? Even if you don't make it, it will not be because of that stupid mistake you did last season. Now stop doubting youself from stupid reasons" Jeno was shocked at his friends words. It's really rare that he sees Jaemin that serious and talking this furiously. He didn't want to argue with his friends either so he just stayed silent. 

Renjun was playing game on his phone that he downloaded out of boredom. He was about to beat his high score when the head of the studio walked in with the choreographer following behind him. He forgot about his score and put the phone back in his pocket as he tried to get up from the floor. Saying he was anxious was an understatement. Every studio in the city has closed their auditions before so this studio was his only choice at being on nationals or internationals again. He had to get in, that was his only choice.


	3. Chapter 3

"And last but not least... Huang Renjun" Renjun finally released the breath he has been holding since the head started reading the names. He tried his best to not jump out of excitement.

"The ones I read please stay in the studio for a little more, others can leave. Thank you all for auditioning, like I said before this is not an end. You will have a lot more chances in the upcoming months to be featured in the competitions. You can come in next week to schedule your classes. If you will not be continuing with our studio we wish you the best. It was great seeing all of you here. Thank you" The ones who didn't make the team started leaving the studio as the other twelve people stood silently not exactly knowing what to do. More than half of the dancers already knew each other from the previous years so they started forming a small circle where as Renjun and a few more new dancers just watched them. When Mr. Ten motioned for them to sit everyone slowly took their places on the floor.

"Congratulations everyone you all did amazing in the auditions and deserved your spots in the competition team. I hope you will get along with your teammates and our teachers. Your schedules will be handed to you one week after the others with the extra classes you want to take. Competition team rehearsals will be tiring you enough so I recommend you not doing a tight schedule. We have three new dancers, Jeno as the last years dance captain I trust you to make them feel welcome. Now I'd appreciate it if you can stay here for half an hour or so all together and get to know each other. Teamwork is really important and we can't achieve that if you guys don't know and trust each other" As the head left the studio Jeno got up from the floor. Renjun realized that the confident Jeno from yesterdays audition was nowhere to be seen. Instread black haired boy was looking pretty nervous.

"Umm... First of all I'd like to welcome our new dancers. I hope we can all get well together and make our studio's name to reach to bigger places. I think everyone should introduce themselves first we could at least have some ideas on our names. As you might've just heard I'm Jeno, I'm mainly a hip-hop dancer" All the dancers formed a circle on the floor and next person started to introduce himself.

"I'm Jaemin. I am mainly a hip-hop dancer although I'm trained in contemporary as well" After Jaemin's cool voice almost a screaming sound filled the studio.

"Hello everyone I'm Lee Haechan. I'm, unlike these two people, a contemporary dancer but I probably can nail the hip-hop choreographies better than them" As everyone giggled at the brown haired boy, next dancer started to introduce themselves. Four more dancers introduced themselves until it was Renjun's turn.

"I'm Renjun, I'm a contemporary ballet dancer" As the next person started to introduce themselves Renjun came eye to eye with Jeno just like the other day, except this time it wasn't through mirror. Renjun slightly smiled at the boy who also sent a smile back. It was a small smile but enough to make the boys eyes squint. Renjun wondered how his eyes would look if he smiled bigger.

\---

The day has come, Renjun was starting his new school today. He didn't have much of expectations since he never put a lot of meaning to school anyways. He could work out on his own either, in his old school his teachers didn't have much role in his academic successes it was always him who pushed himself to be better. He never had to worry about friends either since his life was formed with dancing in the middle. He was spending out of school times in studio anyways so his teammates were being enough for him. Having school friends wasn't one of his goals here as well so he had nothing to worry about.

After stopping by his locker, he made his way to his first class, physics. What a great way to start a new term, right? Physics was the only class that Renjun, no matter how much he tried, couldn't enjoy. He still managed to pass the class but he was just memorizing the things he needed to know, doing the test, forgetting everything right after. Once he got in the class there were three more students other than him. There was still ten minutes until the class started so Renjun wasn't surprised with the class being empty. He sat in the third row near the window. He loved watching outside at the times he was bored. He was surprised when he turned his eyes to the door. An unexpected familiar figure walked in the class and also got surprised by the light haired boy. After the auditions day Renjun and Jeno saw each other in the studio often and talked in times it was necessary but they definitely didn't expect to meet here. Jeno started walking towards Renjun with a slight smile on his lips. Renjun was happy with the fact that Jeno was an easygoing person since himself wasn't good at keeping conversations with people.

"May I?" Jeno asked showing the empty space next to Renjun.

"Sure, how is it going?"

"Fine. I should be asking you though, I believe it's your first day, right? I don't remember seeing you in school before" Well all they talked in studio was revolved around dance so Jeno didn't know that Renjun just moved into the city.

"I just moved in the city which resulted with me changing my dance studio and school. So yeah, it is my first day"

"Oh, I didn't know. I hope we were able to make you feel welcomed enough"

"I guess you were. I mean, I do wish I was still in my old studio but it's not because of you guys. I've been dancing there more than ten years it's not easy to just let go of them" Jeno imagined how hard it must be for the boy sitting in front him. He moved to a new city leaving his old friends behind. Jeno couldn't even imagine spending a day without Jaemin or Haechan let alone moving to a new city and have the possibility of not seeing them in person for a long time. 

"Hey! Don't give me those pitying eyes. I'm okay with where I am. I'm still in contact with everyone from there and that's enough for now"

"Sorry, I'm not pitying you. I just thought how it would be if I had to leave my studio and not seeing my friends for a long time. It must be hard"

"And that is what pitying is" Renjun replied, rolling his eyes at the black haired boy.

"Oh, I'm sorry" Jeno looked down with embarrassment. Renjun didn't want to make the boy feel awkward so he changed the subject.

"Where are your friends by the way? I never saw you guys separated before"

"They don't go here. I was going to transfer to their school but my parents didn't let me since heir school is more loosened with the rules. They couldn't come here either because this school is way too strict for their liking" When the teacher walked in Jeno looked around in the almost full the class.

"Hey, do you mind if I stay here? There is not much place left"

"Of course! I'd rather sit with my captain than a stranger" Jeno smiled at the boy as he placed himself on his stool more properly this time.

\---

"Hey, do you have class in the studio today?" It was now lunch break and two boys were heading to the cafeteria. They didn't have any common classes for the rest of the day but spending the first half of their day together really comforted boys with each others presence. 

"Yeah, I have hiphop with Mr. Ten, why?" 

"Cool, I have it too. Believe me, you will love Mr. Ten's choreographies. He is a genius with dance moves"

"I realized that. Both of the audition routines were amazing"

"Will you directly go to studio after school? If so I was thinking maybe we could go together" 

"I have to go home first, I didn't bring my dance bag with me. Maybe next time?"

"Yeah, sure. We will a lot of rehearsals together anyways" Jeno thought about how hard they will have to work to do well in competitions. He had to work extra since he didn't want to ruin their routine like he did last time. Once the boys reached to cafeteria they got in line to get their food. While they were waiting some students greeted Jeno, which he replied with a simple nod. Jeno was well known in the school all the students and even the teachers respected him. He was always kind towards other people and he treated everyone around him with respect.

"Am I keeping you away from your friends? You don't have to spend your time with me, you know. I can take care of myself" 

"No, no it's fine. You're not keeping me away or anything. People know me but I'm not that close with anyone. Since I spend all my time out of school at the studio I don't have much time for having close friends from school" Common point with every dancer out there: Not having time for things out of dance. Seriously though, if a person wanted to reach good places with their dance they had to sacrifice a lot. Renjun knew a lot of people who was being homeschooled just so they can have more time for their dance classes. 

Holding their trays, two boys raced to an empty table and started eating right away. If you see them from outside you'd think they have been starving for two days. When Renjun's phone vibrated in his pocket he took it out to see the caller ID. His heart literally skipped a beat as he looked at the name written on the screen. Renjun quickly took a look at Jeno to see if it was okay if he picked it up. His crush was calling him but he didn't want to disrespect the boy in front of him. After Jeno's nod Renjun didn't waste another second to answer the call.

"Hey Renjun! How are you doing?"

""I, uh, I'm fine. I started my school today, it's been pretty good so far. How about you?"

"Wow it's relieving to know that, I was worried about you. We all were actually"

"Yeah, you guys don't forget to remind that to me every single time we talk. There is no need to worry though, seriously everything is going good so far"

"Great! Did you make any new friends? I hope you're not planning to make amazing new friends and forget about us"

"Like you'd give me a chance to forget about you. And yes by the way, I did make a friend" It would be okay if Renjun mentioned Jeno as a friend, right? I mean not a close one but just a basic friend. Jeno smiled at the light haired boy as he realized the friend that's in the conversation was him. Renjun realized how the boys' eyes got lost as he smiled. It made him smile too.

"Wait, really? Woah I didn't expect you to make a friend this fast, especially from school"

"First of, I never said he was from school and as second do you really think I have no life except dance?"

"To be honest, yes" Renjun was surprised, he didn't expect that.

"I can imagine your face getting all frustrated and it is so fun" Renjun rolled his eyes at Jun's words as laughing was heard from the other side of the line. But it wasn't only Jun's laugh, there was another specific laugh that was being heard that made Renjun really frustrated.

"Chenle! I can hear your laugh, next time we are face to face you'll be dead you understand!?"

A little "oops" was heard before they ended the call. His bestfriend was also his greatest enemy. Fun, right?

"Well, looks like you have some great friends" Renjun turned his eyes to Jeno. He almost forgot about the black haired boy.

"Yeah, so great!" Renjun's words came from his mouth sarcastically as he intended but he knew that he genuinely had great friends. And a crush, let's not forget about that. He hated the fact that he had a crush on Jun. He was older than him, better than him and definitely deserved better than him. Jun was an amazing person overall and anyone could easily have a crush on him. Yes, he was silly most of the time and acted much younger than his age but those were just other amazing features of Jun. And does he need to mention about the visuals that the guy had? Renjun would sometimes wonder if Jun was even from this earth. Renjun left the transition he was in when Jeno called him out.

"If you keep staring in emptiness the lunch break will be over and you will be hungry in the class" Slight tint of red placed on Renjun's face as he grabbed his spoon back and started eating what was in front of him.


	4. Chapter 4

Jeno was doing some freestyle improv in an empty studio. This studio wasn't being used unless there were more than five classes at once, which was a really rare occasion. So students mostly came here either to practice or to just hang around. Jeno was waiting for his two friends to come back from school when a small figure walked in.

"You know this is the second time I'm seeing you separated from your friends. I'm really starting to think you are actually a lone wolf and hanging out with your friends just to show people" Jeno stopped moving when he saw the light haired boy leaning against the door frame looking at him. He had a blue bag hanging from his right shoulder, Jeno guessed it was his dance bag. 

"Well if that blue bag didn't got in the way I could have been waiting with you, for my friends to arrive, instead of being a lone wolf" Renjun giggled at his comment. 

"Well, Moomin did you hear that? Next time we should be more careful" Jeno then realized the little white figure hanging from the zipper of the bag. "Cute" he thought.

"You planning on standing there forever or are you actually gonna walk in?"

"I just stopped by when I saw you, I need to leave my bag to locker room. See you in class" Jeno waved behind the small figure as he walked further. Jeno actually enjoyed these small 'lone wolf' moments. He had a clear mind to think about things. 

Jeno started to play the music again, this time not dancing but trying to improve specific movements. He wasn't aware of the fact that those specific movements were the ones he messed up last season. 

When Haechan and Jaemin walked into their friend dancing the same moves that he has been dancing since the competiton, they felt sad. They really tried to help their friend to move on but there was something holding him from moving on. They didn't know what it was but they knew Jeno was not going to move on from it as long as he doesn't face with that thing. Haechan moved to the speaker, which Jeno's phone was plugged in and took the device disconnecting it from the speaker. They didn't want to bother him with what they saw so they acted as everything was normal.

"Lee Jeno! If you don't move we will be late to class and I don't want to be scolded by Mr. Ten" Jeno looked up when the music suddenly stopped. When he was his friends he smiled and walked over to them.

"What took you guys so long? I thought you were ditching the class without me"

"Don't be silly! We wouldn't dare to ditch a dance class. Especially one of Mr. Ten's"

"So the problem is not me not being there, the problem is Mr. Ten"

"Yeah, exactly" Jeno rolled his eyes at Haechan whilst Jaemin took over the talk.

"If both of you keep this going, we will be late all together and it will be basically the same thing with ditching the class. So move your asses!" Three friends sprinted towards the studio which Mr. Ten always had his classes in. You could say it was the biggest studio in the building other than the main studio, which they were doing competition rehearsals in. Mr. Ten was sharing this studio with Mr. Sicheng who was their ballet and contemporary teacher. All three boys took classes from him when they were younger. When they reached their teen years Jeno stopped taking them since he was more interested in hiphop. Haechan and Jaemin, on the other hand, were still taking his classes. 

Luck was on their side today so they reached the studio before Mr. Ten. Once the boys got in the room filled with students, they started warming up in their own space just like the others. They knew Mr. Ten was going to make them warm up altogether as well but doing little warm ups was better than just sitting and doing nothing. As Jeno started running in place his eyes searched the room for Renjun. His eyes caught the boy sitting by the wall looking through his phone. He seemed so focused on the screen like he was doing something so serious.

"I'm coming"he quickly told his friends and made his way towards Renjun. The boy was shorter than him Jeno was aware of that but Renjun seemed much more smaller while he was sitting like that. Jeno smoothly slid himself next to boy on the floor.

"You look way too serious for someone who is just playing games" Renjun got scared by the sudden voice coming from his side which caused him to lose the game.

"Hey! I was so close to my highest score, I was almost breaking it!"

"Sorry... But look this time I'm with my friends!" Renjun raised one of his eyebrows as he looked at the taller. 

"Good for you. Is this why you bothered me while I was playing my game?"

"Well, yes and no. Not specifically to say this but I wanted to come. Didn't want you to feel alone"

"Who told you I was feeling alone? Seriously stop pitying me"

"Hey! I'm not pitying you, I just wanna be friends with you"

"Because you pity me?"

"There is no pitying! We are in the same school and studio, I think this is enough reason to be friends with you. Are you always this stubborn?"

"No, I just enjoy driving people mad" Renjun said with a small smile. Jeno rolled his eyes at his new friend. Both of them looked up when two shadows fell on their faces.

"Hey Renjun" Haechan said smiling while he took his place on the other side of the light haired boy. Renjun smiled back to him.

"Hey Jeno, when exactly did you guys get this close?" Jaemin asked as he sit next to Jeno.

"We are in the same school"

"Oh, cool. At least you will not be alone anymore" Jaemin didn't like the fact that Jeno was on his own in that school. It wasn't a problem until last year while he had his girlfriend with him. But since their break up Jeno never really got close with anyone and it was making his friends worried.

Mr. Ten entered the studio with a serious look on his face.

"Hi everyone. I'm Mr. Ten, your hiphop teacher. I'd like to say welcome to our new students, I'm sore you'll like it here. Without further do let's get to class shall we? Old ones know how I do my classes but for you newbies, which seems like we have quite a lot, I'll just make a quick summary. We always start with warm ups then do some strength exercises. Lastly I teach you a short routine and make you perform it in small groups to see how fast you pick it up. We will now start right away with the warm ups. Everyone please line up in three rows"

Dancers lined up like the teacher told them to. Jeno, Jaemin and Haechan were in the front row while Renjun was in the second row right behind them. With the orders from Mr. Ten every dancer in the room started to warm up all together. After some not so fun warm ups Mr. Ten brought one of the girls from the front row to show them next exercises. Everyone laid on their back with the girl to do some core exercises. Mr. Ten travelled around the room checking if everyone was doing it right. He fixed some of their postures and he helped some dancers who seemed to be struggling with some exercises. After some standing exercises Mr. Ten went in front of them.

"Alright, all of you take a few breaths, go take a sip of water then I'll show you todays choreo before teaching you in sections"

With the given permission some dancers sit wherever they were and some went to their water bottles to take small sips. They couldn't drink too much since they would be dancing in a few minutes. 

After dancers got back to their places Mr. Ten arranged the song from the speakers and showed the short routine. It wasn't extreme, in fact if you ask Renjun it was easier than the auditions routine. Mr. Ten started teaching the routine in count-of-eights. At the same time he was carefully watching the dancers from the mirror making sure everyone was keeping up with the choreography.

"Alright guys, now you'll come as small groups and perform the routine. Let's see if there are any volunteers. Please raise your hands if you'd like to go as the first group"

Renjun looked around to see who was raising their hand. He wasn't fully comfortable with the routine just yet so he was going to be waiting for at least the second group. He saw Jeno and Jaemin's hands raised but Haechan seemed to be waiting like Renjun.

"Jeno, Jaemin, Gahyeon and Felix floor is yours" Other dancers moved to the back leaving the middle open for the dancers. Four of them took their places as Mr. Ten started the song. Renjun'a eyes were on the dancers while his body was marking the moves as the song went on. 

"Thank you guys, you were great. Now who wants to be next?"

Renjun, Haechan and five more dancers took a step forward. Three dancers in the front and four dancers in the back, seven dancers placed in front of the mirror. They started moving with the song following each other from the mirror. After they were done next group of dancers came to the front. Dancers were starting to get more comfortable with routine so the groups were getting crowder as it went on.

"You were all great. We need to improve some stuff but it's nothing serious, it will be better as the classes go on. Since this was our first class for this year I kept the routine a little simple. As we go on, routines will get stronger and more complicated. That's it for today you're free now" 

Some dancers rushed out of the studio while some of them went to their friend groups. Renjun was almost leaving until he heard someone calling for him.

"Hey Renjun! We are going to the cafe down the studio, wanna come?" 

"I don't want to bother you guys, I think I'll just go home"

"Why'd you bother us, don't be stupid. Come on let's go" Renjun was shocked when Haechan suddenly put his arm around his shoulders. I guess he was going to cafe with them.


	5. Chapter 5

Four dancers were sitting around the circle table which was located in the corner of the cafe. Time to time they were being the target of other eyes in the place because of the noise they make. 

"It was great hanging out with you guys but I have a promised dinner. Jaemin out" After checking the time on his phone Jaemin quickly excused himself and left the table. Haechan and Jeno was used to this so they didn't even bother to pay attention to him but Renjun stared blankly at the space in front of him. Realising it Haechan wanted to make a quick explanation.

"One day he will find someone he will fall for real but until then we have to deal with him like this"

"Is he a playboy?" Renjun was surprised. Jaemin didn't seem like he was someone who would go around give people hope and then leave them just like that. Jeno answered the question.

"Not exactly. He is more like trying to find that 'someone' in a different way. I mean I don't exactly support him with that but he makes sure he doesn't break the heart of the girl he goes out with"

"So he is a playboy with 'good intentions'?" Renjun made air quotes on the good intentions the same way Jeno did with someone.

Haechan laughed at Renjun's answer whilst Jeno stayed silent as he didn't know what to say. 

"Well Renjun have you find that 'someone'?" Haechan asked laughter still audible in his voice. Renjun got stunned with the sudden question.

"I-I don't know. I mean no" Renjun could feel the heat rise up to his cheeks as he wanted to burry his head on the table. Should he tell them about his crush? Should he tell them about his crush being a boy?

Renjun has never hidden his sexuality from anyone. When he first suspected from his feelings he directly went to his mom who was really acceptive towards it. Next person who learned was his best friend Chenle who only answered with a "so what?" In that moment Renjun wasn't sure if it was a good thing but Chenle explained him that it was to show him his sexuality doesn't affect him or their friendship on any level. He had his own ways to express stuff Renjun thought. And after those Renjun never had the needing to hide his sexuality. But why was he having second thoughts about telling his sexuality to his new friends? They were the only people he has properly talked ever since he moved and Jeno was in the same school with him. What if Jeno spreads it to everyone in the school and everyone starts to pick up on him? He wasn't aware that moving to a new city would be this troublesome.

"From earth to Renjun, are you still there?" Renjun snapped out of his thoughts as Jeno waved his hand in front of his eyes.

"That I dont't know wasn't very convincing but I'll let it pass for now" 

They stayed there half an hour more talking about anything they could think of. Renjun was really enjoying his time with them but his parents must have been home by now and he didn't want to keep them waiting. He excused himself from the two boys and left the cafe heading towards the bus stop. 

"Oh Haechan I almost forgot. You remember Mark, right?"

"You mean my first ever big crush? Are you kidding?How could I forget those shining eyes" 

Haechan looked mesmerised towards the emptiness remembering the boy. They used to live on the same neighbourhood, the boy was a year older than them and was getting along with Jeno. He wasn't a big fan of Haechan though. The brown haired guy was too jumpy for him and always managed to get in his nerves. What made Haechan have crush on him? The answer for that is a big mystery even for Haechan. Maybe he got invested in the guy because he was constantly trying to avoid him. However, three years ago they moved to other side of the city and they never met again. 

"Yeah, him. My mom was still in contact with his mom since they were great friends when they used to live here. Anyways, apparently they have pest control at their house so they'll be staying at our house for a week"

"Wait, what!? Mark Lee is coming here and will be at your house for a week!? Jeno get yourself a third bed I'll be staying over at yours for a week"

"Yeah sure, so you can scare Mark away? Not happening" Jeno rolled his eyes at the brown haired boy.

"Anyways if Jaemin and you will come over when he is here you might want stay a little lowkey? You know so you don't scare your 'first ever big crush' away"

"I can try I guess" Haechan tried to look cool on the outside but inside he was flipping around.

"When is he coming?"

"I'm not sure, in about two weeks I guess"

"Cool"

—-

It's been a week and a half since the start of the term. Being in the same school as well as the studio brought Renjun and Jeno really close with each other. After all they were seeing each other way more than they saw their own parents.

"Good morning" Renjun greeted the younger as he sat next to him in the class. His parents left early that day which meant he had to wake up on his own but he was almost being late to his first class since he slept for half an hour after his alarm went off.

"Good morning. Thought you weren't coming" Jeno was surprised when he came to class in the morning to see their usual seats empty since Renjun would always be the one to come first.

"I overslept"

"I don't blame you. I thought I wouldn't be able to get up for a week after yesterday's rehearsal"

"Right? My legs are so sore right now I seriously don't know how I'm going to handle ballet tonight"

"Yeah good luck with that. My only plan is to lie down and play some games" Renjun envied Jeno with the privilege he has.

With their teacher walking in class both of them turned their attention towards teacher's desk. They never really talked during classes other than asking the points they don't understand.

"Why so fast? As I'm about to write down notes she just jumps to the next topic! I keep missing stuff it's impossible to keep up with the class" After the class Jeno kept complaining about how fast their teacher was moving on with the topics while Renjun just listened the black haired boy. He didn't have as much trouble keeping up with the class.

"You can borrow my notes if you want"

"I need to try to understand by myself first but if it doesn't work then yes, I'd love that. Thank you"

"No problem" After that their walk was silent until Renjun's stomach decided to break the silence, reminding him that he didn't have breakfast because he was being late. Jeno turned to Renjun and saw the shorter male with tints of redness on his cheeks. 

"I guess you missed breakfast? Come on I have some snacks in my locker they should keep you full until lunch"

"Thank you but it's not really necessary. You might need them later"

"You need strength for tonight remember? I have a lot of them anyways" Just then they came in front of Jeno's locker. Black haired guy opened its lock and threw in the books he had in his hand from the previous class. He then opened the bag which had its zipper already opened and took out a bag of crackers, giving it to Renjun.

"There you go" He took out his notebook for the next class and closed the locker not bothering to zip up the bag, again. Renjun thanked him as he opened the packet putting one cracker in his mouth then pouring a few in Jeno's palm.

"Gotta get to class. See you at lunch" Renjun waves at the boy and then made his way to his own locker to get the necessary books.

—-

"Okay everyone! Let's start with some barre exercises first. Please take the first position" Renjun could feel his muscles stretching comfortably as they went down to plié with Mr.Sicheng's orders. After yesterday's competition troupe rehearsals his muscles were so tense but because of how tired he was he didn't really stretch them. He learned his lesson though, he will never miss the stretches after class ever again.

"Ah, I could kill someone right now just to go home and play games with Jeno and Jaemin" Renjun laughed at the brown haired boy who was right in front of him.

"I hope I will not be the one you kill" Two boys laughed slightly as they didn't want to make so much noise. 

"I thought Jaemin had Mr. Sicheng's classes too. Why didn't he come today?"

"He only takes contemporary, he stopped with the ballet last year" 

"No talk while on the barre!" Both boys focused on their moves since they knew that warning was an indirect one specifically for them. 

"Point your toes properly!"

"Careful with the core!"

"Heads up! Don't look down!"

"Square hips!" 

For Renjun, hardest thing about ballet was definitely the fact that the moves were so strict. They had to be done a certain way otherwise it wouldn't look as good. Not graceful enough, not sharp enough. He enjoyed contemporary more than ballet because of this exact reason. In contemporary he had chance to express himself, pour his heart out on the dance floor.

After half an hour of barre work, which felt like hours for the dancers on the barres, they lined up in front of the mirror standing in the fifth position. They worked through small variations with Mr. Sicheng travelling in between dancers doing slight touches on their bodies to fix their postures. After about an hour Mr. Sicheng dismissed the class. Some dancers made their ways towards their water bottles settling themselves on the floor while some of them directly went to locker rooms to get changed.

"So Renjun, how is it going? Have you gotten used to city?" 

"I guess so. I mean I don't do much other than going to school or coming here to studio, so everything is fine"

"Glad to hear that" They took their daily clothes out of their lockers to get changed. Haechan put his clothes in the bench when his phone made a sound that showed he had a new message. Haechan took his phone out of the locker checking the screen to see who sent the message. He couldn't help but smile widely as he read the notification.

"Did you won the lottery or something, how can you smile that much?" Renjun teased the younger as he stuffed his warm ups in the blue bag.

"I might have shot at winning the lottery of love" Haechan sang turning around with literal hearts coming out from his eyes.

"Huh? What shot?" Haechan stopped and put his hand on his nape as he realised he overreacted. He just found out that his crush was coming in two days that was it. His crush didn't even like him but he couldn't help it. It's been so long since he last saw the older so he was excited.

"I-it's nothing. I overreacted"

"Is it your crush? Are they the one who texted?" Renjun tried his best to not jump to conclusions about the others gender. He could guess, call it gay instinct or whatever, but he didn't want Haechan to feel pressured.

"No, the text is from Jeno but it is about my crush" 

"For a moment I thought you were going to say Jeno was your crush" Renjun laughed.

"Ew no. I mean he is hot and all but no" Renjun laughed at Haechan exaggerated mimics.

"So who is your crush? Are they from the studio?"

"No, he used to live in our neighbourhood but he moved to other side of the city three years ago. He is coming over for a week and saying that I'm excited would be an understatement. I don't know why I literally told you my whole platonic love life this detailed either so don't ask" Two boys laughed. Renjun remembered how he hesitated telling them about his crush about a week ago. He was quite relieved when Haechan mentioned his crush as 'he' maybe next time Renjun will talk about his crush too.

As the boys were about to get out of the locker room once they were changed Haechan stopped suddenly his eyes lighting up remembering something. Renjun looked at the other boy confused.

"Since I told you about my crush I was thinking maybe it is your turn to talk about yours. Last week's "I don't know" wasn't very convincing you know" Renjun could feel his cheeks heat up, it was his turn to put his hand on his nape.

"There is this guy from my old studio and I might have a little, really little crush on him" 

"Sooooo?"

"There is no so. He is older than me and I'm pretty sure he sees me as his younger brother kind of way"

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that"

"No need to be sorry. And look we have something in common"

"Yeah we are both far away from our platonic crushes so fun right?" Haechan talked sarcastically right before the two boys burst out laughing. They got out of the studio and waved each other goodbye.


	6. Chapter 6

As soon as Jeno got in his room he threw his bag near the desk and himself on the bed. Another tiring rehearsal has been finished and Jeno couldn't even find the energy in himself to shower. He closed his eyes getting ready to sleep just like that not even caring that he still had his dance clothes on.

"Wow, at least one welcome would have been nice" Jeno shot his eyes open and saw the black haired boy sitting opposite his bed.

"Oh my god! Mark! I totally forgot you were coming today" Jeno got up from his bed, excitement of seeing the older making him forget about his tiredness.

"Yeah, I realized that" Mark went towards the younger hugging him in a brotherly way.

"Wow you've actually gotten taller"

"It's been three years you didn't expect me to be the same height, did you?"

"Wow it's been so long" When Mark was living in the neigbourhood he was hanging with Jaemin, Haechan and Jeno trio altogether but Jeno always had a special place in him. Jeno felt the same way towards the older. Those two were the first ones to meet with each other. They were both the only child of their families so they became each others brothers for the times they were together. In these three years they kept in touch but of course it wasn't same as being face to face.

"So how is it going?"

"Not much always the same drill. Wake up, go to school, leave school, go to dance, come home, sleep and then everything starts all over again"

"You've been living the same routine ever since you were a kid. How are you not bored of it dude?"

"I love dancing so it never becomes boring. There are always new routines, new moves to learn, unlimited amount of ways you can improve yourself. How can you get bored of it?" Mark admired the younger's passion for dance. Jeno knew what he wanted, how he wanted and he was fearlessly going for it.

"You're in your school's basketball team right? Do you get bored of it?"

"No but I'm not making my life revolve around it. I envy how dedicated you are" Mark ruffled the boys hair just like he used to three years ago. Both of them never realized how much they have missed each other until this moment.

—-

It was a beautiful sunny Sunday and for the first time in forever Renjun didn't have any dance classes. In his old studio he would usually have at least one class even on Sundays. He loved dancing so it has never really been a problem for him but he had to admit having a proper late hour breakfast with his parents was great.

"How has the dance been going Renjun? Did you get use to your new teammates?" Renjun swallowed the piece in his mouth before answering his father.

"It's been going much better than I thought honestly. Everyone is really welcoming and the teachers are really nice too"

"It's great to hear. I was worried since you've never danced with a majority of new people before" Renjun smiled at his mother to show her that he was alright.

After a long breakfast with a lot of talks on each of theirs lives Renjun helped his mother with the dishes. Just as they were finished his phone shortly vibrated in his pocket showing he just got a message. He took it out and checked his screen. Before he got to read the message his phone started to vibrate because of a incoming call. He was surprised to see Jeno calling.

"Hey Jeno, what's up?"

"Hey Renjun, sorry for calling out of nowhere are you free?" Renjun looked at his mom showing her his phone. Once he received the nod from his mom he started walking towards his room.

"It's okay, I'm free. What happened?"

"You remember when I told you our old neighbor Mark was coming for a week?"

"Yes?" Renjun answered as he was asking a question. What did that fact have to do with him?

"We are going out with Haechan, Jaemin and him. I was going to ask if you wanted to come too? It's okay if you don't"

"No, it is not. Tell him to come no matter what!" Renjun recognized the screaming voice as Haechan and he laughed.

"Where are you guys gonna be hanging?"

"There is a park near the studio. It's okay if you just come to studio, we can meet there and go to park altogether"

"Let me ask my parents. I'll let you know in a few"

"Okay, see you" Renjun hung up and went back to kitchen to talk with his mother. When he saw the kitchen empty he changed his way to the living room where he saw his mom and dad sitting together watching some documentary on the television. He stopped by the door to get their attention.

"Mom dad, can I go out with my friends for a while?"

"You already have friends to go out with? You're surprising me Renjun" His dad said jokingly.

"Where are you guys gonna go? You are not very familiar with the city yet"

"They said there is a park near the studio. We're gonna meet at the studio and go to park together"

"Okay then, be home before it's too late"

"Thanks mom!" Renjun left his parents in the living room and went to his own room to get ready. When he picked up his phone to text Jeno that he was coming he saw the message he didn't have chance to read before. It was from Haechan.

"You better come today and meet with my future husband lol" Renjun laughed at it and started typing. Lately Haechan and him has gotten really close especially since they both opened up about their crushes. So far Haechan was the only one to know that he was gay.

"Can't wait to meet with him"

\---

“When did you exactly move here Renjun?” Renjun turned to older boy that he just met to answer the question.

“It’s been about two months I guess. I didn’t realize time that has passed actually going between school and dance I didn’t have much chance to think on it”

“You dance too? I thought you were Jeno’s friend from school” This time Jeno was the one to answer.

“Both. We are also in the same school” Although there were benches from a few meters away from them five boys placed themselves on the grass.

“How have you been Jaemin? We almost never talked since I moved away”

“I don’t have any difference with my life either. Dance and school”Jaemin said without putting much details to his answer.

“Ugh! You guys are boring! Mark dear I can tell you tons of stuff about my life in those three years what do you want to know?” Haechan tried to move closer to the older boy but Mark scooted away from him. Yes, Haechan hasn’t changed a bit from his three years ago self. Jaemin decided to be the one to save Mark from his miserable state.

“Okay, who wants ice cream? Haechan come with me let’s go get some ice cream for everyone” After that Jaemin pretty much dragged the brown haired boy on the grass. When they got away from the other three Jaemin made Haechan properly stand up. It was time for him to have a talk with the boy. He bent towards him as he was going to give him the world most important secret.

“Okay Haechan listen to me really carefully. What I’m about to tell you might just save you from living the rest of your life miserable” Haechan looked confused at the pink haired boy in front of him. What was he talking about?

“If you want to take someone’s attention you can’t just cling onto them! Stop sticking to Mark like a annoying parasite!” Haechan rolled his eyes at him.

“It would have been nicer if you haven’t just called me a parasite”

“Sorry about that but you know the way that I meant it and you know that I’m right” Yes, Haechan knew but where was he trying to go with this?

“Look, do you really want Mark to like you back? Like in a romantic way?”

“I mean, yeah that would have been nice but doesn’t he already have a girlfriend? I’m pretty sure Jeno mentioned something like that. I don’t even think he likes boys that way so I’m just trying to have fun with it. Which I must say it is really fun”Haechan laughed as he remembered the way Mark got annoyed at him. Jaemin rolled his eyes at the boy as he went back to standing straight.

“Your choice. But if you really want to get his attention you should do the exact opposite of what you’re doing, just saying. Come on let’s go get the ice creams” Haechan thought about what Jaemin just said. I mean Jaemin definitely had more experience than him on the topic but even if he did what Jaemin told him it would be useless if Mark didn’t like boys. He just shrugged his shoulders it’s better to go with his own way in this situation, at least he was having fun. After being done with the little debate he has in his brain he followed Jaemin to the store. 

Jaemin and Haechan came back with bunch of different kinds of ice cream. That much ice cream was definitely a lot for the five boys. Three pairs of shocked eyes looked at them. Jaemin shrugged his shoulders and sit in his previous place.

“It was Haechan’s idea” This time the eyes turned to Haechan trying to understand why there was so much ice cream.

“When we went there I realized we didn’t ask what kind you guys wanted. So my genius brain came up with the idea of buying from every flavor so everyone can have the one they want” He explained it like it was the most meaningful idea on earth. Jeno then turned his eyes at Jaemin.

“And you let him?”

“He said he’d pay for it” He then carefully took the strawberry flavored ice creams out from his way and went towards the chocolate flavor. Artificial strawberry? Can’t even be put in the same place with Jaemin.

Haechan excitedly sit in his place and took two of the ice creams without even paying attention to the flavor. He would eat it anyways. Once the other three got out of their shock state they went towards their preferred ice creams. 

“You could have called and asked you know?”

“This way sounded more fun”

“It’s so hot, even if we can finish them they would melt until then” Mark being the oldest and probably the most reasonable of them stated the facts. The weather was abnormally hot for this time of year. Renjun looked towards the kids who were playing by the swings.

“We can give them to the kids. At least they would’t go to waste” Haechan being Haechan improved the idea.

“We can sell them to the kids!” Everyone turned their eyes onto him.

“I was joking! I might be unreasonable at times but I will not get money from little kids what do you think I am?”

“Stupid?” asked Jaemin but stopped talking when Haechan turned his gaze to him. Mark laughed at the scene.

“We should give them before they melt” Five friends picked up the ice creams which were pretty much all around the grass and got up with their own ice creams in their mouth.

In five minutes or so all the kids in the playground were enjoying their ice creams. Jaemin, who was surprisingly good at interacting with the kids, was running around with two of them. Jeno and Renjun were sitting with a small girl who was excitedly talking about her doll while brushing its hair. Mark was just sitting on the bench enjoying his ice cream but of course with Haechan around that didn’t last long. Haechan, not so surprisingly, got one kid under his spell and convinced him to scare Mark. 

Haechan pointed at the small boy to start moving towards Mark as he did the same from the other side. When they got closer to the older both of them screamed in Mark’s ear with all they have causing him to drop his ice cream. All the eyes on the playground turned towards the three when Mark started chasing Haechan and the small kid. Haechan picked up the younger boy and put him on top of his shoulders and kept running like that. That way Mark couldn’t do anything because he might hurt the young boy. At least that’s what Haechan hoped. Including their friends everyone in the playground was laughing along with Haechan and the boy on his shoulders. After a while Mark started to laugh either and lied down on grass getting tired from running. Soon all five boys were laying down together with a few kids from the playground.

\---

Renjun smiled to himself as he thought about the day. He was currently lying on his bed and was about to sleep. He wasn't expecting to have this much of fun when he left the house this morning, he was extremely glad that he found Jeno, Jaemin and Haechan as his friends. His mind reminded him about the time when little girl was excitedly telling him and Jeno about her newly bought doll. Jeno was so attentive towards the little girl, it was almost like she was talking about the cure of a deadly disease. Renjun blurted his eyes at himself as he realized he was not thinking about the girl but he was thinking about Jeno. Yes, he was undeniably attractive but Renjun didn't want to think about that now. It was not right. So instead he opened the lock of his phone and texted Chenle hoping the the younger would help him get his mind off of how attractive his friend is.


	7. Chapter 7

Jeno and Mark were sitting on the balcony at late times of the night after a tiring but fun day in the playground. Both their parents were already asleep and the two boys were sitting silently with some chips in between them.

"How is the school going Jeno? Still the student that is number one in every teacher's eye and such a 'gentleman'?" Mark's voice was teasing while he was saying gentleman because in the past some girls have called Jeno that way while Mark was around. Ever since then the older never let him forget that moment. Jeno rolled his eyes at him.

"It's pretty much same. Since Renjun is around it's more fun honestly, I mean I had people I talked with but I've never gotten really close with anyone since the school was pretty much a break place from dance. It never was the main part of my life"Jeno smiled a little to himself, it really was fun to Renjun around in school.

"Yeah the only person you've mentioned specifically before was your girlfriend. It's nice to hear you have one more person now" And that comment was all it took for Jeno's smile to vanish. He has never told the older that his girlfriend broke up with him.

"Uh, actually we... We broke up" Saying that Mark was shocked would be an understatement. Although he wasn't there in majority of the time he knew how much Jeno liked her. When they were talking on phone or once a short time that Mark has been here he has seen how much the girl meant to Jeno.

"I'm sorry dude, what happened?" Here comes the question. The answer to this was unknown even to Jaemin and Haechan.

"She wanted to break up and I respected her decision" The safe answer, the exact way he told Jaemin and Haechan. The answer that keeps one of the biggest secrets of Jeno's life, a secret that even Jeno himself wants to avoid.

Mark luckily realized that the younger didn't want to talk on it for longer so he didn't ask anymore questions.

"What about you? You also had one if I'm not wrong right? You've mentioned her before"

"Oh yeah, well we broke up as well. Two weeks ago actually" It was Jeno's turn to be surprised.

"I'm sorry to hear that"

"Nah it's okay. It was a mutual decision" Jeno looked confused which made Mark explain it more deeply.

"It wasn't anything big anyways. I mean it was just a basic high school relationship. We've both became quite busy with our own stuff lately which resulted with us not being able to spend much time together. We drifted apart naturally and in the end we decided to stop. We still talk but not in any romantic way"

"Oh I see" Jeno wished that his break up would have been something like that too. He wasn't that lucky though. Mark saw the miserability in the younger's eyes. He put his hand on his shoulder showing he was there. Honestly Mark was curious on what can make Jeno this devastated. It felt like there was much more to that break up but he didn't want to pressure the younger.

"Jeno you know you can talk to me right? I'd never judge" Jeno looked up to the older. He wanted to let things off his chest so much but he was scared. What if it would end up like it did with his girlfriend. He looked into the older's eyes. Other than the fact they looked like olives Jeno saw sincerity in them. Maybe he seriously wouldn't judge. He took in a deep breath and hoped that he wouldn't regret what he is about to do.

"Mark? Can I ask you a question? It's might come off as weird though"

"Of course Jeno. You don't even need to ask" Jeno took in a deep breath trying to adjust the words quickly in his mind.

"Would you break up with your girlfriend because she had the possibility of liking the girls?"

"Huh? What?" Mark didn't understand what Jeno meant by the question. Jeno looked to his front feeling embrassed. That probably was not a great way to ask what he meant to ask. That was no where near what he thought but he panicked. He didn't even know why. All he wanted to do right now was to vanish. Mark furrowed his eyebrows as he was still trying to understand what the younger meant. Jeno looked at the cars that were parked alongside the road now wanting to talk anymore while Mark's brain was busy going through the question over and over again. His eyes became big as he realized what he meant. At least he hoped that he did.

"Do you mean if she was gay?" Jeno didn't exactly know what to say. It wasn't what he meant but going with that might be safer than what he actually meant.

"Uh- not exactly" Mark raised one of his eyebrows looking at the younger.

"Bisexual then? Jeno you really need to give me more clues here" Jeno looked back at the older not knowing how to feel. He has never said that word out loud before and hearing him say it like it was one of the easiest things on the world made him confused.

"Y-yeah. That one"

"Why though? I mean, unless she had someone else she liked I wouldn't, that'd be stupid of me to do. Especially since I am bisexual myself" Jeno looked with shocked eyes to the older.

"You're bisexual?"

"You didn't know? I've never hid it actually" Jeno was not just surprised but also confused.

"You never showed it either" Jeno widened his eyes as the realization hit him.

"Is that why you guys broke up?" At first Mark looked confused at the boy but then he realized what he said.

"What? No, I told you it was because we drifted apart it had nothing to do about my sexuality. Why are you even suddenly asking these stuff?" Mark then understood. He first widened his eyes with what he just realized and quickly softened his voice.

"Jeno? Is that why you and your girlfriend broke up?" Jeno looked down not knowing what to do. If he answers with the truth he would've admitted that he was bisexual. Why wouldn't he though? Mark just said that he was bi just like it was the easiest thing in the world. That also means he wouldn't judge Jeno since he is like that too. Jeno was aware of all of this but why was he still hesitating?

"Jeno if you don't want to talk it's okay. I will not force you to do anything you're not comfortable with" Jeno tried to organize his thoughts in his head before he started talking. He couldn't look the older in the eyes so he kept them locked on his fingers which were picking the skin around his nails out of nervousness.

"She broke up with me saying I had to choose" Jeno could feel the tears forming up in his eyes, he stopped for a moment to make sure they didn't fall. Mark waited patiently for the boy while rubbing small circles with his thumb which was still placed on the younger's shoulder.

"She said she'd be okay with continuing as friends if I liked boys. But she didn't accept the fact that I liked both genders. She said it wasn't possible to like boys and girls at the same time and that I was probably just confused" Jeno's voice started to crack through the end of the sentence. He turned his eyes to the older.

"I-I tried. But I couldn't help it, no matter how much I tried. I really wanted to change Mark, I really d-did" Jeno was not able to hold back his tears anymore. He has been keeping all these to himself for so long that telling these to the older felt like the heaviest weight has been lifted off his chest.

He suddenly felt the older's arms being wrapped around his body as he silently cried trying to hold back his sobs.

"Jeno don't ever let anyone tell you who you should like. Don't ever see yourself any less than others. You're valid, I'm valid. We're just as valid as straight or gay people. Don't ever let anyone make you feel otherwise. Be as you want, be attracted to the gender you want. No one can decide it for you. Don't ever let anyone affect you like that" Jeno's sobs escaped his mouth as Mark's word left his mouth. The younger has been bottling all these up for so long, scared that everyone was thinking the same way as his girlfriend did. He has really thought that he was just confused and he would get back to "normal" like his girlfriend wanted.

Once Jeno calmed down he got out of the older's embrace to look him in the eyes. He was pretty sure his eyes were red from all the crying that he just did and he was going to have puffy eyes in the morning, he just hoped the older didn't mind at this moment.

"Thank you Mark, for everything. For being by my side ever since we were little kids, for never letting me down and for accepting me as I am"

"Hey, no need to thank me. This is what brothers are for right?" Mark's words were genuine. He saw the younger as his little brother even though they didn't have the strongest connection through this last three years it was great to see that nothing has changed between them.

"I'm guessing the others don't know?"

"I thought it was best to open up to my girlfriend first, you know so our relationship would be fair. When she reacted like that I got so scared that they would react the same way. I didn't want to lose them. I still don't and I don't know if I can tell them yet" Jeno looked down with shame. What kind of a friend he was to not trust his friends?

"Jeno, it's okay. You don't have to tell anyone if you don't feel ready. Don't feel pressured about it, don't rush it" Mark squeezed the youngers shoulder hoping to give him some kind of strength.

"Also as much as I don't like Haechan because of specific reasons I don't think he is someone who would judge you or make it a problem for your friendship. Neither is Jaemin"

"I really hope so. I don't want to lose them. Renjun either but I don't think I'm ready to talk with them just yet."

"It's okay, you can take your time as much as you need. If you want you can never let them know either but that would be so troublesome for your entire life. I don't know much about Renjun but if someone is making your sexuality a problem you're better off without them anyways. You don't have anything wrong about you and you shouldn't be ashamed of who you are. I know it's not easy but you can get through this Jeno. You're strong" Mark gave an encouraging smile to Jeno and received one back from him.

"Thank you Mark. Seriously, it feels great to let things off my chest"

"I'm always here if you need Jeno. Even if I'm not physically here, I'll still be supporting you no matter what. You can talk about anything, anytime. Don't even hesitate to call or text" After that two boys enjoyed the silence of the night with the soft breeze passing through them.

\---

Jeno could barely wake up that morning even with two alarms, one being his and the other Mark’s. Both boys have slept late last night due to deep conversations that happened and they also wanted to make most of the moments they spent together.

The older one of the boys was the first to wake up when the second alarm went off. Mark tried to reach for his phone which was just next to his pillow and closed the alarm with annoyance. His eyes then caught the younger who still had his eyes tightly closed in the bed. They have decided to exchange between the floor and Jeno’s bed every night. Last night was a tough one for Jeno so Mark gladly left the bed for the younger hoping he would at least get a proper sleep even if it was only for a few hours.

“Jeno, come on you gotta wake up” He slowly shook the younger as he tried to get himself out of the blanket around him.

“Hmphh” Jeno pulled the blanket onto his head gripping onto it as his life depended on it. As Mark realized that the younger was not going to wake up softly he went to the bottom of the bed and pulled the blanket harshly.

“Agh! Mark! Give me that back!”

“No! Come on you need to wake up or we’re both going to be late” Jeno tried to open his eyes but because of all the crying he did last night they ached so bad that he couldn’t even lift eyelids up just a bit.

“Can you at least close the curtains please” Mark looked understandingly to the younger and headed over the window to close the curtain so the sunlight would’t make things harder for him.

After some painful minutes Jeno managed to get out of bed with still halfway opened eyes.

“Go wash your face, I’ll make the beds this morning. Don’t get used to it though!” After mumbling a barely audible thanks Jeno left the room to wash his face. After being convinced that he looked approachable he went back to his room. Mark was sitting on the bed looking through his phone, he was already dressed and ready to go. He looked up to the younger when he got in the room. He still had puffy eyes but he was definitely looking better than when he first woke up. Also thanks to the boy’s natural visuals he barely had to do anything. Mark got up from the bed giving one last encouraging squeeze to the younger before he left the room to go downstairs to get breakfast. Mark needed to leave earlier than Jeno since his school was almost on the other side of the city. Jeno quickly got changed out of his pyjamas and went in front of the mirror to fix his hair. Since he was more awake right now he overall looked better and puffiness in his eyes were smaller that he could easily say he didn’t get enough sleep if anyone asked about them. Feeling better about himself, mentally and physically, he picked up his bag from the floor and left the room hoping to eat at least a few bites of breakfast with Mark.

That day his puffy eyes only got seen by Renjun since the time they have been to studio the puffiness was long gone. Just like Jeno planned not being able to sleep for long covered up the truth successfully from Renjun.


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey Renjun. Do you remember when you told me that you'd give me your notes? Is that offer still valid?" Jeno and Renjun were walking to their lockers after the class. No matter how much Jeno has tried he couldn't keep up with the class and his own efforts never seemed to be enough to get the topic fully.

"Sure, do you mind if I give them tomorrow though? I wanna go through them real quick tonight" Renjun said while opening his locker and Jeno leaned onto the next one.

"Actually my next class is free since the teacher has taken sick report. So I was thinking maybe I can look through them now? If that's okay with you of course"

"Yeah sure, no problem. As long as you give them back to me at lunch it's okay" Renjun smiled giving Jeno the notes that he has just taken out of his locker.

"Will do, thanks" After Renjun has closed his locker they started walking towards the taller boy's locker. This has been their habit in the past few weeks. They go to each other's lockers then go to their own classes or walk together if they have the same class. In the studio things weren't much different either. Renjun was always hanging with Jeno and his friends and if he had contemporary or ballet, the classes which Jeno wasn't taking, he was always with Haechan and Jaemin. Three boys adapted so fast to him and Renjun has adapted to his new environment easily thanks to the three.

"I'll be heading to the library then, see you at lunch" After they were done with Jeno's locker they headed towards their own ways since Renjun's class was on the other side of the building compared to library.

"Yeah, see you at lunch"

After the not so fun class Renjun headed to the cafeteria with his lunch in his hand, thinking that the younger would have already went there. He walked through the big grey doors getting in the crowd students who were filling the cafeteria. He scanned through the place to see if Jeno was around. His eyes went past some familiar faces that he saw in the classes or the corridors alongside the ones he has never seen before but settled once he saw the familiar black hair with sandwich in his hand looking down to what Renjun guessed the notes that he has given. He walked towards him and dropping his own lunch beside him as he settled himself on the chair.

"Working hard I see"

"Trying to. It's almost like my brain has this shield that is stopping the words from getting in"

"I can help if you want. What is the part that you don't understand?" Jeno showed a certain part in the notes that Renjun has marked with the color red showing it's an important part and there was also a small question mark to show that he hasn't fully understand it either.

"I think you haven't understand either" Jeno said smiling. Renjun scratched the back of his head, slightly embarrassed that he couldn't help the younger.

"Oh yeah, I was planning to go through that tonight to fully understand, sorry"

"Hey it's no big deal, you can teach me once you learn it yourself" Jeno smiled and felt relieved when he received one back.

"Hey do you mind if I give these notes back to you at the rehearsals tonight? Since you have contemporary I'm guessing you will not have the chance to study before then?"

"Oh right, we have rehearsal after contemporary too. I've totally forgotten about it. Sorry, will not happen again captain" Renjun giggled slightly and brought his hand to the upper part of his head posing as he had just gotten an order from his commander. Jeno laughed at his silliness.

"It better not. If we want to be ready for regionals in time we have to fasten up with the choreography" They only needed two group routines to pass through regionals. For nationals and internationals though they were going to need a lot more stuff such as solos, small groups and duets of course with alongside another two group routines. Even just the thought of them was enough to give both dancers headache. Jeno then realized that he has never asked the older if he has ever pass through the regionals. He pretty much knew nothing about his old studio and he suddenly got curious.

"I just realized I've never asked you about your old studio. Have you ever been to nationals?"

"Would it be weird if I say that I've been to both nationals and internationals?" Jeno widened his eyes out of pure shock.

"Last season? You went to internationals last season right?" It wasn't hard for Renjun to guess the reason behind the other's shocked state.

"Yeah, and your studio was the other finalist. Honestly your choreography has amazed all of us we had our doubts about winning at the beginning" Jeno's mood has visibly went down just in a second.

"But all those doubts went away when I messed up, right?" 

"That was you?" Faces that he saw at nationals has been erased from Renjun's memory long ago except his own teammates and a few specific dancers that was pretty much known by thousands of people. Those days were always so filled that no one ever payed attention to other people so it wasn't a surprise for neither of them that they didn't remember each other from those memories.

Renjun realized that he should say something to the dark haired boy in front of him to lift his mood up. He would probably blame himself if he made a mistake, it was not even up for debate but he didn't want Jeno to blame himself for losing the competition. Although still Renjun wanted to be honest with the boy, telling him lies just to make him feel better didn't sound like a good idea.

"I remember that part and honestly, you did a great job at covering it. Did it cost you to internationals? Yes, maybe it has but the way you covered that also shows how much of a professional dancer you are. Obviously studio's head and Mr.Ten knew this too so they gave you chance to fix that mistake this season. They obviously believe in you" Renjun decided to lighten the mood with a little joke as well "Also you can't put all the blame on yourself, we were amazing" When he heard Jeno giggle he knew that he has reached his goal.

"You really were by the way. Eventhough I don't specifically remember you, your routine was definitely one to remember" Renjun put a piece of his luch in his mouth before he answered back.

"Thanks, hopefully this season our routine will be one to remember too" Jeno then realized once again, how lucky he was to have Renjun in his life now. The boy wasn't just a great dancer for the sake of their studio he was also a great ally to have around especially in school where he didn't have Jaemin and Haechan. He used to have his girlfriend but he didn't even want to think about her now. He quickly shook his head trying to get it out of his head. He then saw Renjun looking at him with wondering eyes.

"You zoned out. Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes it's nothing. Come on we're gonna be late to class" Both boys got up from the table they were sitting and headed towards the exit. Renjun pointed at the notes Jeno was holding firmly in his hand.

"Keep them for now, you can give them back at the rehearsals like we've talked" Jeno nodded at him before separating their ways to go to their classes.

\---

“-and hold it!” Renjun felt like his legs could give up on him any moment as he tried to hold his ending position. Mr.Sicheng has showed them a new group routine for today’s class, to test the dancers’ ability on working together in such short amount of time. Renjun checked the other dancers from the mirror, ones who are lucky to have people close to themselves were leaning onto each other waiting for Mr.Sicheng’s orders to let go. Haechan was on the other side of the room, behind Jaemin who was squatting in an uncomfortable position. Renjun felt lucky for a moment, at least he was stepping properly on his two feet. Dark haired dance teacher walked around the dancers checking everyone.

“Okay, let go” All the dancers let themselves fall to the ground, loud thuds echoing in the room. Almost two hours of nonstop dancing has definitely drained all of them. Mr.Sicheng smiled at the scene and went towards his and Mr.Ten’s shared office.

“Don’t forget competition troupe still has rehearsal after half an hour, rest well and others are free” Renjun and a few more dancers who were in competition troupe sighed heavily thinking about another two hours of nonstop dancing with an intense choreography.

As the lucky dancers, who didn’t have anymore dance classes for the day, were leaving the studio Renjun used last crumbs of his energy to drag himself near his friends. Haechan was laying on the floor and Jaemin had his head on his tummy, both the dancers had their eyes closed. If Renjun had enough energy he would have used this opportunity to scare them but right now all he could do was placing his head next to Jaemin’s on Haechan’s abdominal area. At this point the dancers that were left in the studio were either laying down or sitting by the wall. One of the girls from other side of the room said all of their shared thought out loud.

“How are we going to survive the upcoming rehearsal?”

“The actual question is, will we survive?” When Haechan talked his chest moved causing Jaemin’s head to hit Renjun’s.

“Haechan! Stay still, I’m trying to sleep” Jaemin said hitting slightly to the brown haired boys arm. Haechan threw their heads to opposite directions slightly lifting himself up like he has just realized that they were there. He slid himself near the wall and leaned on it like most of the other dancers in the room. Soon the other two followed him there and sit on his two sides.

“I might consider taking Jeno’s path and stop with contemporary next year. With competition troupe it is hard enough” Jaemin mumbled to himself. Haechan knew that he wouldn’t do what he said though. With the tiredness in the end of the class the younger would say this from time to time over the years but his love for it was more than his will to quit. Though he has quit ballet this year the main reason behind that was he has been struggling academically and he needed some extra hours to study. Haechan knew these but of course it didn’t stop him from teasing the not so innocent boy.

“Is someone sad because they couldn’t go out on a date tonight?”

“Shut up, it’s not like I go out every night”Jaemin answered rolling his eyes at his friend “Yeah, not every night just every other night” Haechan added grinning. He really enjoyed annoying his friends. Though in the past it has led to some misunderstandings and fights between him and his friends, by now both Jeno and Jaemin got used to him and accepted him like this. So far Renjun was only watching the boys next to him not really paying attention to what they were talking until he heard his own name.

“You’re making me look like a bad person in Renjun’s eye like I go around and break every girls heart that I see” Renjun was not thinking that way about Jaemin so he really wanted to clear the air on it.

“No! I don’t think like that about you” Both Jaemin and Haechan laughed at the panicked boy “Relax Renjun, I was just kidding” Jaemin added still laughing a little.

“Oh, okay” Renjun mumbled to himself.

After a moment of silence Renjun felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He was going to ignore it but then it vibrated again, thinking it might be something important he took his phone out of his pocket. His lips formed into a smile as he opened his screen and saw a selfie from Jun ad Chenle. He read the message underneath that said “Missed us?” Of course, he has missed them but he wasn’t going to admit it to the younger so he answered back “Jun? Yes. You? No” He then lifted his head from the screen to see two pairs of eyes looking at him like they have seen the most absurd thing in their lives. Haechan of course didn’t hold his teasing back, guessing that the stupid smile on the older’s face had something to do with his crush.

“I think someone has just gotten a text from their long distance crush” Haechan lifted his eyebrows knowing he was right since that is probably how he would be looking like if he got a text from Mark as well. Meanwhile Jaemin was slightly confused with the new knowledge.

“You have a crush? A long distance one? Why am I always the last one to learn things?” Renjun looked to the floor feeling embarrassed for no specific reason.

“Uh actually you’re the only one to know other than Haechan right now. At least ever since I moved here”

“Oh ok then, I can accept second place. Is she from your old studio?” Renjun wasn’t exactly sure on how to fix Jaemin’s mistake. He used to be so comfortable with it but ever since he moved it felt like a burden to him. Luckily Haechan fixed the mistake while Renjun was having his little doubt session in his brain. Jaemin was okay with Haechan being gay he would be okay with Renjun either, right?

“Hey! You can’t just assume people’s gender like that, I’ve told you this before” Jaemin looked at Haechan realizing his mistake. He has done it with Haechan in the past too, feeling bad right after. He was trying to be careful as much as he can but sometimes, in moments like this, he was forgetting it.

“Yeah right. Sorry, I’m trying to be more careful but sometimes I just forget” Jaemin smiled sheepishly at Renjun. He was relieved when the older smiled back, last thing he wanted was to offend his friend.

“It’s okay. Yes, by the way he is from my old studio but it’s nothing serious, just some form of basic high school crush. Actually he is not in high school anymore but… yeah” Just then Haechan’s ringtone filled the studio taking the attention of the other dancers in the room as well. They were suppose to have their phones in silent mode in the studio but he probably has forgotten it. Luckily they weren’t in class right now otherwise Mr.Sicheng might have scolded him. Haechan picked up his phone screaming loudly making everyone look annoyed at him. Yet again everyone was pretty much used to it so they didn’t care much either.

“Jenooooooo! Hello my lazy, only dancing cool hip-hop and acro friend. Did you finally arrive at the studio?” Haechan waited for the boy to finish his talking on the other side of the phone then lifted phone from his ear to check the time “Okay, we’re coming” He put his phone back into his pocket and got up pointing at the other two to do the same thing.

“Let’s go to main studio, he is on his way” Three boys started walking towards the door with a few more other dancers following them for the competition rehearsal.


	9. Chapter 9

After another exhausting two hours of dancing Jeno stood at the wooden door that was opening into his house. He rang the doorbell and listened to footsteps from the other side of the door getting closer, eventually opening the door revealing his mother.

"Hi honey, how was the rehearsal?" Jeno got in putting his shoes carefully to the side which was crowded than usual because of their guests for the week "The usual. 5-6-7-8, jump, keep your core tight, don't stumble, turn and hold it!" Jeno added his arms exaggerating the movements, making himself and his mum giggle.

"Good to hear that. Mark is in the shower, you can go in once he comes out. You hungry?" Jeno has eaten his meal before the rehearsal but it wasn't much since he didn't want to feel sick while he was dancing. He wasn't extremely hungry though and he was guessing Mark and him would snack on things as the night goes on so he decided not to eat. He quickly greeted his father and the other couple in the living room and excused himself to his bedroom.

He put his bag to the side of his desk, hoping not to forget putting the clothes in it to laundry. He took his phone out of his pocket and threw himself onto his bed. When his phone started ringing on his hand he carelessly put it onto speaker and dropped it somewhere around the pillow.

"Don't you think it's too early to miss me, Haechan? We were together like half an hour ago"

"Oh nice to hear your voice too Jeno. It's such a joy to be talking to you"Jeno rolled his eyes at the younger even though he couldn't see him "Whatever, I called to give you an important information. Me and Jaemin are coming over tomorrow night for a sleepover!" Jeno blurted his eyes, when was that decision made?

"You what!? Haechan it's not only Mark you know, his parents are here too. It would be way too weird and I don't think my mom would be thrilled with this idea as well"

"Jeno, I'm not stupid. I already talked with your mum, both your parents are cool with it. Your mom loves me and Jaemin, it was almost like she wanted us to come, only thing you have to do is talk with Mark. Love you, byeee" Haechan hung up the call before Jeno had more chances to object to the idea. Jeno was mostly busy with the fact that his mother was practically friends with Haechan. He knew that his mom adored him but he didn't know it was to the extent for them to exchange numbers, it was quite horrifying to think about. As he was trying to digest the phone call he just had the door to his room opened, revealing the older. His dark hair still had some water dripping down to his shoulders, leaving damp traces on his shirt.

"Just for the record, it's my turn on the bed and I will not hesitate to throw you off of it"

"Yeah I know, I gotta take shower anyways. How was school?" Jeno slid to the side of the bed so Mark could lay down next to him. He delayed the sleepover talk, he wanted to talk with his mother first.

"Same usual stuff. I had basketball practice in the lunch so didn't have chance to eat anything so spent my afternoon with a growling stomach" Mark imitated the voice his stomach making both of them laugh "What about you? How was the rehearsal?" Jeno has seen Mark as he was going out to go to the studio and the older was coming back from the school. They didn't have chance to talk so they just left with simple "hi"

"Tiring but fun. We are working harder than ever, hoping this will be our year"

"Good luck with that but dude please go and take a shower, my nose is dying here" Jeno bursted a laugh and got up from the bed walking towards his wardrobe to get the clothes that he'll wear after the shower. He left his room with clothes in his hand and walked towards the bathroom to take a quick shower trying not to think about next night.

It turns out that Haechan was right when he said that Jeno's mom was the one who came up with the sleepover idea. Jeno learned it when he went to kitchen to confront his mother who was busy making some kind of dessert with Mark's mom. She has said to him it would be a great idea to reminisce the old memories and Mark's mom have supported her with the plan. Apparently themselves had planned a late night dinner as parents and they were going to be coming home only to sleep which means that the teenagers would have the house to themselves for quite a while. Jeno had to admit, it was a great thought to have sleepover just like old times. Mark and Haechan were never in perfectly good terms but they were handling it then there was no reason for it not to work now either.

When Jeno went back to his room to tell Mark the news the older was excited which slightly surprised Jeno but again it was something they used to do so maybe he was happy to reminisce those times as well. However now Jeno couldn't stop his thoughts as he was sitting next to Renjun in class. Should he ask if he wants to join them or would it be weird? They were close but still they haven't even known each other properly for three months. But also Renjun has pretty much become a piece of their friend group so easily that it felt like he has been there ever since the beginning. Jeno knew for a fact that Jaemin and Haechan was thinking the same way, actually he was suspecting that Haechan liked Renjun more than him at this point but not like it mattered or anything. Jeno wasn't sure about Mark though, Renjun and the older haven't spent much time with each other other than the day that all of them went to playground. His name being called took him out of the train of thoughts he was having.

"I'm sure Jeno knows the answer to that question, right Jeno?"

"I'm sorry what was the question again?" Jeno could feel his face heating up as the words left his mouth.

"Next time try listening more carefully rather than daydreaming" With that the teacher kept going with the class while Renjun slightly leaned towards him "You okay?" Jeno nodded his head and both of them turned their attention back to class not wanting to get scolded and bring the attention back to their desk.

His debate in his head came to an end with the text that Haechan sent during lunch break.

Do NOT forget about Renjunnn!

Jeno looked at the light haired boy in front of him who was busy taking the pickles out of his sandwich. He was so focused on it, almost like a surgeon who was opening the brain of a patient, his lips were pouted which made him look even smaller than he already was. Renjun lifted his head from the sandwich like he felt Jeno looking at him and locked their eyes "Yes?"

"Jaemin and Haechan are coming over for a sleepover tonight to enjoy our time before Mark leaves on the weekend. You wanna join?" Jeno was glad that Renjun didn't question why he was staring at him before that because he didn't know the answer for himself either.

"Uhh, I think it would be weird for me to come. I mean you guys have been friends for years and I barely even know Mark, I don't want to ruin the night. Besides I have a promised FaceTime call with Chenle so maybe next time? When we all get to know each other better?"

"Yeah, yes it'd be nice I guess" Rest of the lunch was silent on their table. Jeno couldn't help but feel a little disappointed with Renjun not coming. He was aware of everything he said, except the part where he said he promised Chenle, he hated that they were facts. He really wished that Renjun has been with them ever since the beginning, he was great to be around and Jeno couldn't help but wonder how their life would have been with Renjun in it.

\---

Renjun and Haechan were sitting under the barre that was fixed on the wall, waiting for Mr. Sicheng to start the class. Other dancers were also spread around the studio, some girls in the corner were helping each other with their buns trying to steady them onto their heads. Renjun was glad that he didn't have to deal with all that stuff, he couldn't even imagine how hurtful it was to have tons of bobby-pins stabbing them right in the head.

"Did Jeno mention about the sleepover? Are you coming?" Renjun turned his attention back to Haechan when he heard him speaking.

"He did, but sorry I can't, I have a promised FaceTime session with Chenle. I wouldn't want to bother you guys anyways"

"Why would you bother us, that's stupid. This time I'm letting you go away for the sake of that dolphin boy but next time you should join" Renjun laughed at Haechan's comparison. Last day in the rehearsals when his phone was in Haechan's hands, probably playing one of the games that Renjun has downloaded out of boredom, Chenle has called and Haechan was the one to answer and he was honored by the attack of Chenle's unexpected scream.

With Mr. Sicheng coming out of his office, all the dancers stood up from their places lining in two rows in front of him, just like the start of the every ballet class from previous weeks.

After two hours of ballet class the friends bid their goodbyes and went to their own ways, Haechan to Jeno's and Renjun to his house. When Renjun arrived home he took a quick shower and ate the small dinner which was basically what was left from his parent's dinner and went up to his room. He comfortably settled in his bed surfing through the internet. There was still 10 more minutes until Chenle would call him so he was just trying to pass time.

He wondered how it would have been if he has accepted Jeno and Haechan's offer. Other than the fact that he had a promise with Chenle, he has really thought that he would have been the outcast since the other four knew each other for so long and Renjun has just moved in the city. Also Jeno has mentioned how they haven't been properly seeing Mark for three years and they probably would have want to spend the time by themselves just like the old times.

His thoughts got distracted when he heard a sound coming from his computer which he has left on his desk open so he would know when Chenle called. He threw his legs out of his bed and walked towards his seat making his computer properly facing him and pressing the answering button. His screen was filled with the dark blonde hair.

"Maybe you should try to show your face rather than your hair Chenle"

"Yeah I know, I'll fix it in a second" Renjun could hear some whisperings going on and judging from the wall that was visible from top of the younger's head he could see that he was in the studio. Renjun wasn't stupid, he could understand that there will be more people to talk with him other than Chenle and he couldn't help to feel excited to see his old teammates.

The screen got fully black before it revealed all his old teammates with Chenle in the front. There were a lot of screaming going on, it for sure was a mess on that side of the call. Renjun knew the rest of the call would be like this as well and he was so thrilled for the upcoming minutes and possibly hours.

\---

"Life of the night is hereeee!" Jeno laughed at the boy in front of him, letting in him the house. By the time Haechan has arrived the other three have already settled in the living room with snacks on the coffee table located in the middle of the room.

Haechan got in the room with Jeno following from behind. Just as he was about to sit on the couch Jaemin stopped him.

"Go and take a shower first, we can't deal with your sweaty smell the whole night" Jaemin slightly kicked his butt leading him towards the door. Haechan looked at Jeno with eyes that he thought were unbearable but all Jeno did was to move his shoulders up and down showing he doesn't care. Haechan then ran through the room grabbed one of the chips from the table and threw his bag over his shoulder as he put the snack in his mouth. He showed his tongue at Jaemin before he went out of the room, heading towards the bathroom near Jeno's room.

"How can someone be exactly the same even after three years?" Jeno and Jaemin turned their heads towards Mark. He had a point from outside but both of them has seen the character development Haechan has had through the years, it's just that he was so much more hyper than everyone around him and always stood out with that feature of his.

"He did actually. It's just not obvious because of his high spirit" Mark looked at the dark haired boy questioningly. He had doubts but he was aware that he wasn't here for three years so they would probably know better than him.

"How does he not get tired though? He came from dance class and look at him, it's like he is a five year old who has been to amusement park for the first time in his life" Both the other boys bursted out laughing. The older really had a point with that.

They talked about anything they could think about, putting little pieces from the snacks in their mouth now and then. In less than half an hour Haechan came back in the room and threw himself over the couch settling in between the arm of the couch and Jeno. His hair was darker than usual because of the wetness and some water drops were falling on his loose tshirt and the couch. The talking went on with a lot more noise this time, thanks to Haechan.

The hours went on with a lot more snacks and Haechan clinging onto Mark now and then. When they ran out of topics to talk about the clock was already showing 2 am.

"Where are your parents by the way? Did they really leave the house to us?"

"I think they are on a double date with Mark's parents. Mom said they would be home late" Haechan nodded at the answer. Jaemin suggested them to watch movies since they were practically out of things to do other than playing spin the bottle or other cliche games which none of them was fond of. They all settled on a recently released horror movie and spread out on the floor since that felt more comfortable than being squeezed on the couch.

Through half of the movie the door to the house opened slightly scaring all of them since it was perfectly timed with a thriller scene in the movie but they all calmed down when they realized it was only Jeno's and Mark's parents. They quickly greeted them and waited for them to go to their rooms to continue the movie.

At the end of the movie Haechan got beaten up by others in the room because he scared the crap out of them right before the credits started to roll. They decided not to sleep at all since there was only a few hours left before they had to wake up for school. Mark and Jeno went to kitchen to grab some drinks for all of them as Haechan straddled on Jaemin's lap playing with his pink locks to annoy him. Jaemin bowed his head to his fate knowing no matter what he did the other wouldn't stop. He thought about tickling him but he knew that Haechan would be so loud and he didn't want to bother the other people in the house who were sleeping. Although it didn't stop him from sending death glares to the latter on his lap Haechan couldn't care less. When the others came back Haechan changed his target to Jeno grabbing the soda from his hand. The rest of the night, or more like the early hours of the day, went pretty smooth with them enjoying being altogether like when they were in middle school.


	10. Chapter 10

One day has passed since the sleepover and Mark was leaving tomorrow morning. Jeno had this tingling feeling in him since the sleepover and he wanted to get it done before the elder left. He didn't know if it was because he was a literal coward and he needed a support or if it was because he wanted to have someone to pick up the topic in case himself couldn't do it. With these thoughts in his head he turned to the older who was busy fixing his hair in front of the mirror.

"Mark, I wanna tell them" The older made eye contact with the younger through the mirror, lifting his eyebrows implying that he has no idea about what he was talking about. Apparently Jeno's courage was only enough to say the previous line because he had to break eye contact to continue talking and he used all the cells in his body to not stutter through the sentence.

"I wanna tell them, my friends, that I'm... bisexual" He had to take a deep breath before saying the last word. He has spent months believing he wasn't valid, his feeling weren't real, now accepting it throughly was something he had to get used to. He saw Mark turning away from mirror and stepping towards him.

"Well I'm both surprised and proud. If you feel comfortable with it, go for it Jeno. I'm sure both Jaemin and Haechan will not make it any problem and I'm always here for you as well don't ever forget that" Jeno was actually convinced that his friends would be okay with it, he had something else bothering him but he decided not to burden the older more with his insecurities and opened his mouth to ask the older a favor. He still couldn't look him directly in the eye so he started playing with his fingers.

"I was actually wondering if you could be there too?" Jeno finally lifted his head and looked at the elder's eyes. They were just like that night on the balcony, looking like olives holding nothing but sincerity and trust in them.

"If you want me to, of course I will. Just give me time and place"

"Tonight, after rehearsals, in the cafe under the studio" Jeno has played a lot of different scenarios in his head in the past few days and this one seemed like the best option. Competition team rehearsals don't end until it's quite late and the cafe is always empty at those hours other than a few dancers from the studio.

"Okay, text me the address with the exact time the rehearsal ends and I'll be there"

"Thank you Mark. Seriously, for everything"

"No need to thank. I know how hard it can be and I'm more than glad if I could make it even a little easier than it is" Jeno wanted to tell him that it was not just a little, it was a lot more but his mom's scream got in the way.

"Mark! Jeno! Get your lazy asses out of your beds, you're gonna be late!" Both of them laughed together and Mark took his backpack from the floor. He patted the younger's shoulder saying "I'm proud of you" and then left the room. Jeno stupidly smiled at himself before taking his own bag and leaving his room right after Mark.

\---

The confidence that came with Mark's words in the morning didn't last through the day. Jeno could barely focus on his classes, his mind busy with all the possible negative outcomes of his plan. He was glad that he didn't have any common classes with Renjun through the day, they only saw each other during lunch since the exams were nearing and Renjun was studying between the other classes, just like Jeno was supposed to do but he couldn't focus no matter how much he tried.

Unfortunately nothing changed during rehearsals. He didn't make any big mistakes with the moves but he never really went full-out either, he was unintentionally marking some of the hiphop sequences. There was no chance Mr. Ten hasn't noticed but he didn't do much about it other than one little warning, not directly towards Jeno but it was quite obvious. When the rehearsal finally came to an end Jeno sprinted towards his phone and texted Mark, saying they were done with the rehearsals and would be in the cafe in 10 minutes after getting changed. Before he had a chance to check if the older saw the text he was dragged to locker rooms by Haechan, Jaemin and Renjun following them from behind.

"If Mr. Ten had made us go through through that routine once more I would have died right there and then" Four dancers were sitting at their usual table in the cafe enjoying themselves. Well, at least three of them were. As the time neared Jeno has become even more tense that Jaemin wasn't sure if the boy was even breathing anymore.

Jeno's mind was screaming at him, telling him not to do it. If it wasn't for Mark who just entered through the door he would have given up in that moment.

"What is Mark Lee doing here?" Haechan eyed the older in a judging way as he was getting closer to their table. He took one of the empty chairs from other tables and comfortably settled in between Jeno and Renjun "Nice to you see you too Haechan" Haechan sent a kiss towards Mark causing him to grimace.

Conversation on the the table kept going on just like before. Mark had one of his arm on the back of Jeno's chair in a comfortable way, like the reason why he was there wasn't the same reason with Jeno being fully tense. Seeing the older in such a relaxed state made Jeno feel a little better. He still couldn't help with shaking his leg under table though. Mark must have noticed because he directed his hand towards Jeno's leg holding him still while he slightly leaned towards his ear "Relax, you don't have to do it if you don't feel ready"

Jaemin's ear couldn't catch the words but the slight movements didn't go unnoticed by his eyes. He was aware that his best friend wasn't feeling his best today but he didn't have the chance to talk about it yet. He could only hope that it wasn't something so serious. He was taken by surprise when Jeno started talking.

"Guys, I gotta tell you something" It wasn't too loud, in fact it was lower than normal talking volume but it was enough for everyone's eyes to be focused on him. Jeno took a quick a glance at the older's eyes before he continued. He has planned on opening the topic from his ex since that was the main reason that he has been hiding for this long, ashamed of himself. Also he was hoping that he could find the courage to call himself bisexual while extending the time with his girlfriend.

"So uhh- You remember my girlfriend right?" He saw Jaemin and Haechan nodding slightly from the corner of his eye. Renjun knew that he used to date with someone but never learnt the details about it.

"Yeah, what's with her? Is she bothering you at school?" Jaemin couldn't help with the bitterness in his voice but he witnessed Jeno's post breakup struggles from the front seat and although he didn't know the exact reason of the breakup he wasn't going to let Jeno go through something like that. Haechan also tensed with Jaemin's question, he was another witness and also ready to throw hands with her any moment. Renjun on the other hand was surprised since he didn't know that the girl was in their school.

"No! No, I don't even properly see her at school, even if I do we never interact"

"Okay then, what is it?"

"I never told you guys the exact reason. Why she wanted to break up, I mean" Jaemin and Haechan's eyes were softened in a second. They have never pushed him to talk about it, especially after seeing how uncomfortable it was making him. Jeno being the one initiating it was something unexpected. Renjun started to wonder if he was supposed to be there, it seemed like an intimate topic and he didn't want to make the atmosphere weird. He couldn't find it in himself to word those thoughts though. It was obvious Jeno was already having a hard time talking out his sentences, he didn't want to stop him.

"She wanted to break up because I couldn't make the choice she wanted me to do" Three pairs of eyes were looking at him with question marks but Jeno couldn't lift his eyes from his finger, picking at his skin, a bad habit he has when he is stressed. Mark slid his hand from his thigh to his hands squeezing slightly. Jeno thought that maybe telling everything in one breath without having any breaks in between would be easier, with not having time to think and go over the things he were saying, so he took a deep breath with the last strength he had in his lungs and told the whole story with quick words, never lifting his eyes from his hands, too scared to look his friends in the eyes.

"I figured that I might not be as straight as I thought I was, so I went to her telling her about how I felt towards for both boys and girls. As my girlfriend, I figured she should be the first one to learn you know, for honest relationship and stuff. That's why I didn't come to you guys at first. But when I told her she said that it was not possible. She asked me if I liked boys and if that's the case she would be happy to continue as friends or if I like girls we could just continue as we were. She said that I was probably confused because of all the teenage hormones and stuff. But no matter how much I tried I couldn't help it, so we broke up. I hated myself for feeling the way I felt and I was so scared to lose you guys like I've lost her so I couldn't tell you. I was afraid that you would react the same way but I swear it wasn't because I didn't trust you or something like that" Jeno could feel the tears threatening to spill from his eyes, his voice has started shaking and Mark's grip on his hand was tighter than it was before. He didn't know what else to say but luckily he didn't had to. Jaemin has raced from the other side of the table launching himself onto Jeno, giving him one of the thighest hugs that Jeno has ver received in his life. Haechan was quick to join them in the hug whereas Renjun and Mark stayed in their chairs, smiling at the scene in front of them. Mark quickly eyed Renjun and he was relieved to see that he had no negative vibe onto him. He has expected this from Jaemin and Haechan but he didn't know much about Renjun, he was glad that Jeno has found another supportive friend.

"Jeno, no matter what happens we will always be here, always support you. We would never turn our backs to you, you can tell us anything anytime. I'm so sorry you had to go through this alone, I'm sorry if we ever made you feel like you can't tell us. Please don't try to go through things on your own, no matter what it is you can always talk to us. We'll be there for you no matter what it is" Renjun couldn't tell if Jaemin's voice was croaky because he was about to cry or he was engulfed in a hug.

Mark quickly left his seat to move towards the other side of the table, where Jaemin used to sit, letting Jaemin take his place so Haechan and Jaemin could sit on both sides of Jeno. Once they were seated back it wasn't hard to tell that Jeno has spilled a few tears and the other two were barely holding the tears in. Haechan took one of Jeno's hands in between his own two.

"Jeno, you know what she said was wrong, right? You don't have to choose between the genders. You're valid just as you are, don't let anyone tell you otherwise" Hearing the same words that Mark has told him that night from someone else helped Jeno to actually believe in them.

Jeno's eyes found Renjun's pair next to Jaemin. He didn't have the chance to see how Renjun had reacted but he figured the fact that he hasn't left the table yet was a positive sign. Just like Renjun has read his thoughts he placed a genuine smile on his lips, proving Jeno's thoughts.

"Did you know?" The question that was directed towards Mark has came from Haechan "Is that why you are here?" Mark not being sure of what to say looked at Jeno. Jeno couldn't help the panic rising in him. This what he was scared of. He didn't want them to think that he trusted Mark more than them. The biggest push that night was Mark telling him that he was bisexual but he couldn't just out the older like that.

"I-I told him in the night of the day we went to playground. Not that I trust him more than I do to you though. It was just the moment, I think, it felt kinda right. He actually helped me to have the courage to open up to you guys-"

"Dude, relax. I'm not going to be mad because you told him before you did to us. It's your choice and I respect it. I was just curious" Jeno left out a breath of relief. He no longer had any secret he hid from his friends and it felt great. He could feel a huge weight being lifted off his shoulders.

"I guess me being bisexual as well, had a little bit of affect to it either" All the eyes on the table was now focused on the oldest. Jeno wished to be just half as confident the older was with his sexuality.

"You're bi?!" Haechan's scream have caused a few eyes to turn to their table mostly judging way.

"Well, I don't think that it was necessary for everyone in the cafe needed to learn that but yeah. Why are you so surprised, seriously?"

"I don't know, you were trying to run away from me so much that I was actually starting to think homophobic or something" Mark rolled his eyes at the younger in front of him.

"I was running away from you because you were and you are annoying"

"Wow, I'm seriously the only straight person sitting on this table huh?" Both Jeno and Mark looked confused at the pink haired boy, who suddenly blurts his eyes realizing he just outed Renjun without intention. Haechan put his head down the table, clearly being done with him whilst Renjun unintentionally came eye to eye with Jeno. He wasn't bothered by the fact that Jaemin implied to his sexuality instead he wanted to make a joke out of it. Was it going to be cringe? Yes. Did he care? He probably should have but he didn't.

"Let's get this straight. I'm not" After a moment of death silence with everyone's eyes on Renjun all of them burst into laughter. Haechan tried leaving table because of the lame line but sit back with Jeno pulling him back in his place.

"I can't believe you actually said that Renjun, that was the stupidest way to do it. Even I'm straight as a circle is better than that. I'm disappointed in you" Renjun smiled sheepishly, not regretting the lame line that came out of him. The atmosphere has visibly lightened after that and he was glad. The talking has went on just like before, this time with Jeno joining in the conversation much more.

\---

The morning after, things went way too quick for both Jeno and Mark’s liking. Even before the clock has hit 12 pm all of Mark’a belongings were back in the car just like when they first came. Their parents were bidding their goodbyes to each other while the teenagers were in Jeno’s bedroom, delaying the upcoming goodbye talk. Jeno was getting his dance bag ready since he was going to be leaving for rehearsals right after the older was gone.

“Are the others coming too? It’d be nice to see them before I left”

“Yeah Jaemin is gonna be here in like five minutes, I think” Mark stared questioningly to the black haired boy who was busy trying to fit his flat shoes in his bag. Was Jaemin the only one coming? The clingy, light brown haired, annoying but still not getting anyone to fully hate him also named as Haechan was not coming? Or maybe Jeno got lazy tell both their names so he just went with one. They were together all the time so he might not have wanted to specify it. Mark thought that was more possible.

“When is your regionals competition by the way? I’d like to come if I can” Jeno turned his attention back to the older slightly pursing his lips trying to remember the exact date.

“I think in about a month? Or three weeks, something like that. You seriously gonna come?”

“Why wouldn’t I? I enjoyed watching you guys dance when we were little, that hasn’t changed to this day. Just give me the exact date and location, I’ll try to be there”

“Okay, I’ll text you later then” They both turned towards the door, hearing the shouts of their parents telling them it was time to go. Mark got up from where he was sitting and gave a brotherly hug to Jeno, which the younger returned gladly, They both went back downstairs with Jeno’s dance bag hanging from his shoulder.

Mark quickly thanked Jeno’s parents for letting them stay for the week. Suddenly a bright color of pink appeared from the door slightly scaring everyone.

“Hi Ms. and Mr. Lee’s great to see you all. I thought I was going to be late” Jaemin was breathing heavily, his shoulders going up and down with his chest. Even like that he had his own charm, it was like no matter what the conditions were Jaemin could have stolen anyone’s heart. That also might be why both their moms were pretty much whipped for the boy. Quick, little greetings from the parents were heard as they started walking towards the car leaving the three teenagers behind. As Jaemin went in for a hug with Mark, Jeno got curious on where Haechan was. He was the most excited for Mark coming back and expected that he would be there to say goodbye too.

“Where is Haechan? Thought you’d be coming together”

“He directly went to studio, I don’t know why, he said something like not wanting Renjun to feel alone if he comes early” Both Mark and Jeno was surprised at the words that just left the younger's mouth. There were some little facts that Jaemin was hiding, Jeno could tell from his eyes but Mark couldn’t. 

The older was confused, not because that Haechan wasn’t there but because he thought he would have been glad not to be kissed sloppily against his will before he left. Why did he feel like something was missing then? As he bid his last goodbyes with his friends he tried not to think on it. When he settled in the backseat of the car he thought that it probably was because Haechan was also part of his childhood just like Jaemin and Jeno. Enjoyable or not he was his friend right? It’s normal to feel slightly bad when your friend doesn’t come to say goodbye to you, especially when you don’t know when you are gonna meet again. Once he satisfied himself with his thoughts he leaned back staring out of the window, watching his old neighbourhood go by.

“Tell me the truth, why didn’t Haechan come? I can tell it’s not only about Renjun” Jeno asked Jaemin as they were walking to the studio. He also didn’t like the feeling of the little grin that started growing on his best friends’s face.

“You’ll learn soon enough. Let’s get to rehearsals before we are late though”


	11. Chapter 11

Renjun let out a sigh as he dropped his pencil on the book seated on the desk and stretched his shoulders as much as he can from his place. Lately he had no time to do anything other than his homework since all the other times were filled with increased amount of rehearsals for the upcoming regionals competition. After closing his eyes and resting them for a short while he reached for the sandwich that his mom made and left to his room about half an hour ago, as he checked his phone for any important notifications.

Haechan has added him to a group chat with Jaemin and Jeno a few days ago and most of the time it was filled with the bickerings of the youngsters. Jeno and Renjun didn't have the chance to actively participate in the conversations since they were both overwhelmed with their assignments and upcoming exams whereas the other two were more comfortable with their school responsibilities. They didn't get as much assignments except a few extra lectures Jaemin had to take in order keep his grades high.

He quickly typed a text to side with Jaemin on an argument about busting baby ballet classes and scaring the kids. After all none of them wanted to have the head of the studio scolding them for the second time that week. They've already heard enough when they started a water fight in the studio with the majority of the competition troupe. They were left with an extra hour in the studio to clean up the place and two same styled scoldings from Taeyong and Mr. Sicheng. The scoldings might have been much worse if Mr. Ten was the one to scold but surprisingly he was also being scolded for splashing some water to dancers as well.

Renjun put his phone next to his book and rested his head on his arms as he leaned on the desk. His eyes were hurting, he had a terrible headache and he wanted to sleep more than anything. With the last strength on his limbs he straightened his back and grabbed a hold of his pencil to write down the last two exercises on open page. This was the last homework he had due to tomorrow, he still had a two page essay to write in the next two days but he could worry about it later. Once he was finally done with his work he quickly put the book and the pencil back in his school bag, those two being the only things he actually took out, and lifted himself off his not-so-comfortable chair.

When he was finally done with his night routine he wasted no time to go under his covers and drift off to sleep, the tiredness of the day getting to him easily.

\---

Jeno cracked his knuckles hoping to relieve the tension that has grown in them because of his smashes on the keyboard for the last few hours. He had last two paragraphs to be done with his essay which meant he could finally get the rest he's been longing for.

He opened his eyes in panic after resting them for almost a minute. If he had kept them closed for one more second he would have fallen asleep. Essay was due to other day but he had acro class tomorrow and there was no chance that he could write a two page essay after an hour and a half of tumbling.

He gathered whatever strength he had left in his body and put it in trying to make his last few awake braincells to come up with sentences. He has put everything he could think of on the document but the second page was still not filled. He skimmed through the things he has written before and some of the notes he has taken in the class. He was officially out of forming new sentences after writing two sentences though. He tried to take some of the old sentences and changed their forming styles so he wouldn't be exactly writing the same things. After what felt like an hour he was finally done with the essay. He made sure to save it properly and closed his laptop, he was probably going to try to go through it once more before submitting it tomorrow night. His eyes were hurting from looking at the screen for so long but he forced himself to keep them open while putting the notes he has taken out back into his bag.

"Oh crap!" He cursed to himself as he stared at the book that was placed in his bag. He was supposed to do the exercises for tomorrow's class but he has totally forgotten about it, focusing on the essay instead. He has never missed out on homework before so it probably wouldn't be a big problem for once but Jeno didn't feel good when he had his work undone. He also didn't want his parents to know that he was struggling to keep up with his school work, scared that they may want to make him stop dancing. Maybe not entirely but they would definitely make him stop taking at least one of the classes. He has already stopped taking contemporary this year but didn't make much of a difference since he started taking acro instead. It took less of his time than contemporary did but still it was extra two hours if he counted to road to studio with it. His school would inform his parents if he had missed out on even one homework and his parents would definitely think it was because of dance and nothing else. They had minor arguments about it in the past but it hasn't happened for the last few years and Jeno wanted to keep it that way.

Even the racing of his thoughts couldn't stop him from yawning, making him realize that there was no way he could do the homework right now. He slowly reached for his phone, hoping Renjun would be awake and could maybe help him with it. He saw the messages but didn't really read them only checked if he could see Renjun's name in any of the recent ones. When his eyes caught the message that was trying so hard to explain why busting the baby ballet classes would be bad he checked the time stamp and saw that it was sent five minutes ago.

Jeno quickly clicked on Renjun's name to text only him, hoping he would see it soon. He quickly summed up how screwed he was and literally started begging for help through the end of it. However when he send the texts they weren't even received. The other boy was probably asleep and was not going to see the messages until morning. He gave out a big sigh as he surrendered to his fate. It was either not sleeping at all, which didn't seem to be an option since his eyelids were already half down, or giving up on some dance classes. Maybe if he was lucky he could do the homework before the class tomorrow morning but he didn't think he would have the chance to do it. Maybe if he got the answers directly from Renjun? No, he couldn't do that. It wouldn't be fair to Renjun.

Jeno dropped himself to his bed trying not to think about the bad outcomes of this action. Would his parents be so mad? He has never missed out on homework before maybe they wouldn't say anything and it would be forgotten quickly if it never happened again. Jeno was ready to overthink every little possibility, probably exaggerating the bad ones, but his brain decided to shut down itself and make Jeno fall into a deep sleep.

\---

"Jeno, I swear if you thank me one more time I'll go and tell her that you didn't actually do the homework" Renjun would definitely not have done that under any circumstance but he needed something to make Jeno stop thanking or telling him how grateful he is.

Right before the class started Renjun has given his own answers to Jeno and even helped him fill out the other page to make sure everything would be finished before the teacher came. Jeno has ended up erasing some of the answers ,making it seem like he struggled to find them so he wouldn't be stealing it as much. It was pointless but it has made him feel a little better so he tried not to think on it so much.

"You wouldn't. Plus you spend your night trying to do that homework where I literally just scrabbled the exact same answers in five minutes without even reading the questions"

"The questions were almost the exact sentences from the book, there was only one right answer and if you would have done it on your own you would have gotten the same answers. Also it's not like you skipped on homework on purpose, you weren't playing games or something you were doing another homework. It really is no big deal"

"Still, I owe you one"

"Yeah, okay if that will make you shut up. I'll let you know when I need you to pay me back" Both the boys laughed knowing that was not actually going to happen but still they moved on from the topic.

"You know, when I first saw you at the auditions I never thought you'd be like this" Jeno looked questioningly to the shorter boy next to him.

"I mean you were standing in the middle of the studio, radiating confidence from every single cell in your body. I've thought you were the cool, not bothered by anything kind of person" Jeno's laugh slightly echoed through the crowd of students in the school corridors.

"So you're saying I'm not cool now?"

"No, not like that. I mean, of course I still don't know you like Jaemin or Haechan does but I can tell you're too nice for your own good. Also you stress out about the most unnecessary things and no matter what find a way to put the blame on yourself" Jeno slightly nodded his head. He wasn't entirely happy with those facts but he knew that Renjun was right. Jaemin and Haechan has told him these things in the past as well. Maybe Renjun knew him better than he thought.

"Can't exactly say you're wrong. And yes, I've been informed that my physical appearance might be quite intimidating from outside. You shouldn't judge a book by its cover though. When I first saw you I thought you were small, cute personality but you turned out to be almost as wild as Haechan" This time Renjun's laugh echoed through the crowd as a small smile appeared on Jeno's face.

"Oh you haven't seen my wildest side yet, believe me"

"Not sure I want to. That sounds scary" The bell rang through the speakers around the school as their laugh faded and made them to split their ways to go to their own classes.

They had their last class together as Physics. When Jeno came to class, Renjun was already sitting at their usual desk, aggressively scribing something into his notebook.

"Wow, I wouldn't want to be that paper right now. What did it do for you to treat it like this? Cut your finger?" Renjun lifted his head from the notebook and slowly turned it towards Jeno. Just after one second he gave up and threw his head on the desk.

"Ugh, I hate physics" Jeno slowly lowered himself on the seat next to Renjun, putting his head on the boys shoulder in a supporting manner.

"Yeah, you're not alone with that. Want me to take a look at it?" Renjun didn't even bother to lift his head, instead he directly slid the notebook in front of him.

Jeno did his best to focus on the original question and not pay much attention to scribbles of the other boy. The question was complicated but not impossible to do, he was sure Renjun could actually do it if he has paid a little more attention so he tried to make sense of the equations written by the older boy, trying to see where he went wrong. When his eyes caught a small, not written so carefully equation, he had to try extra hard to keep the laugh climbing up from his lungs in there.

"Renjun, what is the sum of thirty and twenty seven?" Renjun slightly lifted his head from where it was resting and checked if Jeno was serious with his question. He wasn't elementary schooler for god's sake. He parted his lips, ready to make a sarcastic comment but froze with his mouth open. He could see how hard Jeno was trying to keep his laughs in. He harshly took the notebook from him and turned his gaze to small equation he has written without paying much attention before.

"I can't believe I actually wrote sixty seven! Sixty seven! Yes, of course, thirty plus twenty seven equals sixty seven! So clever! I'm amazing" He kept grumbling at himself as he fixed his mistake and did the rest of the question with the right values. Finally his answer was matching with the answer key. After putting an aggressive plus sign on the question he turned to Jeno.

"Stop laughing!"

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are! I can see how hard you're trying to keep it in" Jeno was almost not breathing in order to not to laugh. However Renjun finally made peace with his faith.

"Okay, whatever, yeah you can laugh" Once Jeno let out the laughs he has been keeping in Renjun joined in with him. He couldn't deny that the situation was quite funny.

"So physics wasn't at fault, you are just lacking in mathematical skills"

"Shut up, my math results are better than you"

"Still I'm not the one who adds thirty to twenty seven and finds the result as sixty seven" Renjun punched his arm as their laughter died down.

"I'll see you in the upcoming exam" He winked at him as he turned towards the front of the class seeing the teacher has come in.

"Yeah, you will" Jeno mumbled, slightly caught off guard with the wink. In the next hour he did his best to focus on the class but for some odd reason he had trouble with it.


	12. Chapter 12

Renjun detached his phone from his ear, feeling mostly happy but also undeniably melancholic. His old studio's regionals competition was yesterday and they have won it, not that surprising considering their existence in internationals last year. Renjun, of course felt over the moon for his friends and his teachers but one little selfish part of his brain couldn't help but think that he wanted to be there with them, competing and winning.

However that wasn't fair for both his current studio and his old studio. They have been working their asses off for the past few weeks for the upcoming competition in SM Dance Studio and Renjun was ready to give it his all to win with his new teammates and friends.

His phone's notification bell rang, indicating that he has a new mail. Chenle has sent him their performance video upon his request. There were two links, two different performances. For regionals studios needed to have two different group routines. After all the studios perform their routines, about half of them get cut out and the remaining ones perform their second routines to come in first place. The winner moves onto nationals which needs much more routines including two solos(one male, one female) one duet, one small group and two full group routines for semi-finals and finals. After every section studios would get eliminated and the winner of the finals would move onto internationals. Internationals didn't have much of a difference than nationals except a few extra activities between sections to get the upper hand in the competition.

He clicked on the first link that his best friend sent him and watched as the familiar faces took their places on the stage. The routine was great, nothing out of ordinary except a few lifts that were put in between. The routine was obviously enough to get them over the first half of the competition and Renjun guessed that they would put the actual show on the last round. That's what they have done last year as well. Once the video was over he clicked on the second link and watched an empty stage covering his phone screen.

Slowly dancers started coming up on the stage and took their places. Their costumes all had their own little details, colored with a beautiful tone of blue. He could see their faces had something on it but all their faces were looking on the floor so he couldn't exactly see what it was. First he thought they have made some extravagant make up to portray their story, it wouldn't be the first time he has seen something like that, in fact he has been part of a few routines in the past but his guess turned out to be wrong when they lifted their heads in unison. Everyone was wearing black masks covering half of their faces. Masks had little details on them, the same tone on their costumes, and one single feather could be seen on everyones left side.

Renjun got goosebumps with the thought of the masks. There were so many things that could go wrong and it could cost them the whole competition. Before anything else they were obviously limitage for their sights. If they can't see around them properly they might bump at each other on the stage or get their positions wrong. Feathers could fall any moment or get in the person's eye or make them itch causing distraction.

Renjun has always been afraid of dances that needed prompts. Things they need to hold, things they need to throw and catch, things they need to put on themselves and the list goes on. He has never been in a stage accident and he really wanted to keep it that way. He has obviously danced with prompts before but he has always feared that something would go wrong.

Of course, these things were meaningful in the judges eyes. The costumes, the makeup and facial expressions, the prompts and such always meant some extra points in the judges' eye. The more extra your routine was, the more points you would get. His old studio was known for using these details in clever ways to get points and these details what helped them to get the internationals last year, with the dancers' practices of course.

The routine obviously had a story to it so Renjun focused on the moves and the way they were being portrayed. He unconsciously smiled as his eyes found Jun on the right side of the stage. Even with the masks his eyes couldn't miss him. Not that he couldn't tell apart the rest of them(except the two of them who were new) he liked to think about Jun in an extra way.

Ever since he has moved here, he could feel the crush he has grown towards the older over the years has slightly started to fade away. He wasn't exactly surprised with this fact, he always kinda knew that his feeling towards him was never that serious which might have been also the reason that he has never said or showed anything to anyone other than Chenle. But still it didn't stop him from enjoying the way he moved his limbs. Jun has always been a great dancer, there was something special with the way he would stand on the stage. It was like he belonged there. He couldn't be anywhere but the stage.

After spending some time focused on Jun his eyes moved on to others. He could see Chenle in the middle doing some fouettés with a girl, he was guessing that she has joined this season. As the two dancers went to opposite sides of the stage and revealed another dancer Renjun watched his screen with his mouth agape.

Jun has come in the middle but this time with a white suit which had the same details with the same blue on the other costume. He was still wearing the same black mask and it has created a contrast with his costume. He looked ethereal. Chenle has told him that the routine was going to leave him breathless and Renjun could now understand why he said it. Everyone moved in sync as he lead them through the routine in the front row as if the was showing them the way.

Renjun watched everyone moving as if they were one body. With a sudden bass drop in the music Jun grabbed his mask and threw it to the front of the stage. It was best choice since the other places would create risks for the dancers who were on stage. A sudden silence filled the stage as all the dancers froze in their places looking at Jun. Jun turned to his side looking at the dancers behind him but also not fully showing his back to the judges. The dancers started to push each other trying to get to the wings before the others, as if they were trying to get away from Jun. When the dancers left the stage and Jun was alone he took a few steps to the front of the stage and lifted his mask from the ground. There was too much emotion on his face, it was showing how he felt defeated. He then put the mask back on his face and walked towards the other side of the wings of the stage. His head was hung low as his steps took him to wings, he looked to the opposite side of the stage one last time before he got out of the eye sight. As thematic silenced clapping noises could be heard in the background of the video the reason probably being other studios' dancers, teachers and some parents who would also be in the audience.

Renjun could now see his own face from the screen, his wide eyes and open mouth showing the impact of the routine had on him. It wasn't the greatest routine that they have performed or something like that but Renjun always used to be in there. He wouldn't watch the performances from this perspective when he was the one dancing, he would look at things that could be improved, things that can be used again or the things that should never be done again. But this time he just watched it, not analyzing the details but instead enjoying the show that was being put. He loved his friends being this passionate on the stage.

He then thought about his new team. Would they be able to win against them in nationals? He knew that the others were going to be even stronger in nationals but they were strong too. There was no reason for them to not win against them. Renjun found himself involuntarily comparing the dancers in both teams. He still didn't know everyone's strong points here but he knew about the others like the back of his hand. He then realized that these would be pointless if they didn't win regionals first.

"Renjun you're going to be late if you don't get faster!" his mom screamed from downstairs. Renjun was supposed to go to studio today to pick up his costumes before the rehearsals. He was sitting on the floor anyways so he crawled towards his dance bag, picking it up with himself. 

\---

They haven't seen their costumes in their finished state before. When they had their last fitting the costumes still had missing pieces to them but it wasn't hard to imagine how they would approximately look.

As all the team filled in the main studio waiting for their costumes to come, Renjun found himself sitting in between Haechan and Jaemin. Jeno has gone with the teachers to get the costumes. 

Mr, Ten and Taeyong walked in with two big boxes in their hands, Jeno following them in the same state. Renjun accidentally found himself looking at the way Jeno's muscles stretched as he was carrying the box, but quickly turned his eyes away when he realized how he was staring at his friend. He really hoped Haechan or Jaemin haven't realized his looks. 

He was aware of the physical appearance of Jeno, he still remembered when he first came in the studio and saw Jeno standing there as if confidence was running in his veins rather than blood. It wasn't a problem back then because Jeno was a stranger and teenagers look at hot people they see around all the time, right? But now that hot person was his friend and he definitely shouldn't be looking at him the way he just did or referring him as hot person. 

It was easy to avoid when he was with Jeno since the younger would always smile and look so soft that Renjun wouldn't even remember the fact that he had those muscles and killer looks. But when Jeno was away, doing other things Renjun couldn't help it. Not all the time, no. He didn't know what kind of moments were making him realize that Jeno was hot, they weren't often maybe once a week or something, but they existed and it was making Renjun feel uncomfortable.

When Jeno and the olders arrived in middle with the boxes, they placed them on the floor as the rest of the dancers gathered around them looking at the boxes expectedly. Taeyong quickly went back to his office and grabbed an utility knife to open the boxes.

The costumes in the first box were all same styled costumes, with just slight differences here and there. The girls' dresses had fluffy skirts on them, almost like a tutu but not as puffy. Main colors that were on the fabric were red and white just like the boys' costumes. Except they had white pants with a button up shirt which had too many red shapes on it that the white in the background was barely seen. These were for their first routine 

"Even if I didn't know, I could still guess" Renjun thought. The routines were giving away their styles easily. First routine had all the dancers as a one object. For most of the choreography they were doing the same moves altogether, which wasn't as comfortable for some of the dancers since they all had their own styles and making them fit in one routine was hard.

Renjun was used to it though, his old studio somehow has managed to make all the dancers go together with the same routine and making it look effortless. He thought back to the video he watched in morning. How all of them were moving as if they were one body "We never can reach that level with this team" he thought. Not as a bad thing, just stating the obvious. In his old studio almost all of them had the same dance classes, learning the same things with the same teachers for years. That studio was known for their ability to use its dancers as one body.

However this studio wasn't like that. Renjun thought back to their last season's nationals routine. There was something different going on in every corner of the stage. It was so colorful, so lively. Renjun remembered watching it from the wings waiting for their own turn to get on stage and thinking "They are so eye catching" He remembered seeing Jeno's fall. It wasn't even a fall actually more like a stumble. He didn't know it was Jeno back then, but he has thought how perfectly he picked up from there. It could've even gotten unnoticed with all the other things that were going on on the stage if it wasn't exactly in the middle front.

Renjun got back to his current time with the other two boxes opening "This is it" he thought. The costumes were different from each other, not like the ones he watched in the morning with slight differences in the details. No, these had almost nothing in common with each other. They could even be used for different routines and no one would suspect a thing.

"Okay everyone! Please come and get your costumes when you hear your names" Taeyong announced. Mr. Ten and Taeyong started to read the names on the packages as the dancers got their costumes one by one. Jeno was holding a paper in his hand marking the ones that got their costumes.

As Mr. Ten called Haechan's name the boy went and picked up his costume from the first box. Some of the dancers have already opened the packages and worn them on their clothes. Well it was mostly boys who has worn their button up shirts not bothering to actually button them up. Jaemin and Renjun watched Haechan as he opened the package and took out his shirt.

"It looks like its taken from a crime scene, covered with blood"

"I think a 5 year old pouring all his red paint on a white shirt is more family friendly story for this costume" added Jaemin with a small smile on his face. Renjun liked Jaemin's side of the story a little better to be honest but he didn't want to word it out loud to Haechan.

Renjun heard his own name being called so he moved towards the box. He took the transparent package that had his name written on it from Mr.Ten' hands and walked back towards his friends. Haechan had already put on his shirt and even buttoned it up. Renjun could slightly see the black tank top the boy was wearing under the white parts of the cloth. Renjun opened his own as Jaemin's name was heard and the pink haired boy walked towards where Renjun just came.

Before Renjun had the chance to put on his shirt Jaemin came back with Jeno, both of them holding their own costumes "Other costumes will be handed out after making sure these have no problem with them" Jeno said and Renjun watched some of the dancers going to locker rooms to get changed.

"Wow Renjun you really are tiny!" Haechan practically screamed as he took the shirt from Renjun's hand and took Jaemin's one in his other hand comparing them.

"Hey! I'm not that tiny" Renjun rolled his eyes without even realizing. Yes, he was a little shorter and skinnier than the other three (and most of the other male dancers in the team) but he never really had any problem with it but he also didn't exactly liked to be called out like this "And I can punch you in the face without a doubt" he added. He knew Haechan has said it in a jokingly manner and he wasn't planning on being stuck on it anyways.

"No, not my beautiful, graceful face. I can't let you ruin it" Jeno and Jaemin was slightly laughing as Renjun kicked Haechan on the back of his knees causing him to almost fall.

"Although it is fun to watch you two bicker, let's try not to get injured until the competition, shall we?"

"And the captain talked" Haechan answered Jeno, making it seem like he didn't cared what the other said but they all knew he actually did. All of them did. They had two alternates in case something happened to one of them or couldn't join for some reason so it wouldn't be much of a problem for the routine but no one wanted to watch their teammates dance as they waited on the side.

As some of the dancers came back from the locker rooms with their costumes Renjun turned to Jeno.

"Are we going to do the rehearsal with our costumes or are we just trying them on?"

"We'll do the rehearsal with costumes. It'll be the first and only costume rehearsal so we gotta make sure there is no problem that could be caused by the costumes and fits everyone properly"

Four of them started walking towards the locker rooms as some dancers were coming back to the studio. They quickened their pace to not make the others wait for so long, they still had their second routine to go through and go over everything as much as they can, perfecting everything until next weekend for the competition. 

Renjun wanted to meet his friends at nationals and he was willing to make the best he can in his parts. However, they were all a team so they wouldn't reach anywhere with only Renjun's will to compete against his friends. No, the others had their own deal. The ones from last year were so close to internationals and all of their bloods were boiling with the passion of going up there this time.

"We are going to make it this year" Jeno thought. They had to.


	13. Chapter 13

Renjun eyed the big building of the convention center, the place that regionals competition was being held in, through the window of the bus. It was definitely bigger than the one they had in his old city. The lobby of the building was visible from the windows of the entrance, he could see other studios' dancers who were probably waiting for the registration.

Renjun's eyes left the building as he heard Mr. Ten screaming from the outside of the bus. He got up from his seat next to Haechan as the dancers who were sitting in front of the vehicle started emptying it, helping each other with their bags and costumes. They only had their first routine costumes for the day, they were going to perform the second routine tomorrow. That was of course if they passed the first half of the competition but Renjun didn't let that thought to occupy his brain. They have worked really hard in the past months as a team and they were good, there was no reason to get busy with the negative thoughts.

It didn't took long for all fourteen dancers(12 main dancers and 2 alternates) to join the other dancers in the lobby. Everyone was conversing in between each other as they waited for their studio head to come back with Mr.Ten from the registration table.

"Is it just me or is it more crowded in here than last year?" Haechan was looking around the lobby that was too crowded that Renjun was pretty positive that someone claustrophobic would have struggled. Renjun's old city was clearly smaller than this one but he hasn't exactly expected this much of crowd in the competition. He wasn't even sure if the nationals was this crowded.

"I think there are some studios that weren't here last season. I knew that our studio getting to final round of the nationals has affected other studios around the region but I wasn't expecting this much of it" As the dance captain Jeno counter the dancers making sure everyone was here until Mr.Ten and Taeyong came.

After a few more minutes red hair o the studio head was being seen in between the others. He gathered the dancers around himself and their hiphop teacher.

"We are in the fourth group of afternoon session which means we have a little over four hours until our turn. There are respected places for every studio at the -2 floor so you can go and leave your costumes and bags there. I want all of you to be here an hour earlier which leaves you with 3 hours of free time. Don't get lost, don't get in trouble and if you're late just by a minute I wouldn't hesitate to replace you in that moment. If you're going to be having such or don't eat something too heavy and don't eat in in the last half an hour. Jeno, as the dance captain I trust you to make sure everyone comes here at the right time. Make sure you leave your costumes in the right place in a proper way after that you're free"

As Mr.Taeyong finished his words dancers of the Sm Dance Studio headed towards the elevators and stairs. Renjun followed the others through the stairs as he has never been in the building before. He examined the art pieces that filled the walls as they walked past them. They were all very different from each other but still there was something that somehow connected them to each other. Just like our team he thought, they all had their own small traits that were completely different from each other but somehow they managed to come together as a whole for the routines.

The -2 floor of the building, even with the crowd that was currently occupying it, was so big and wide. There was a constant buzzing sound from all over the place. Portable stools were placed around the walls to separate the areas almost making them seem almost as actual rooms. All the stools had different studio names attached to their sides.

With Jeno in the front, Renjun and the other dancers quickly found the stool that had their studio name and started hanging their costumes to the hangers that were placed in the area. Just in a couple of minutes the floor of the empty area were filled with different bags, some of them were even on the couple of chairs that were put there. Before anyone had the chance to leave the area Jeno reminded them the things Mr.Taeyong has listed and told everyone to contact him if there were any sort of problems.

Jeno took out his ringing phone out of his pocket as the other dancers started to leave in small groups, going to different parts of the building.

"Ok, we will not be performing until afternoon so you may take your time" Renjun turned his attention to Jeno, guessing the one on the phone as Mark. He then turned to Haechan to see his reaction. He has surprised all of them on the day Mark left. Haechan was watching the phone so carefully as if he could hear what was being said on the other side. It could have been possible if they were in a silent room but there were lots of noises from the other people out of their area so Renjun didn't think it would be possible.

"Yeah, I'll send you the location just in case. Ok, see you then" as Jeno hung up and put the phone back in his pocket he turned towards Haechan.

"I don't think your plan will work if you'll be looking at Mark like you were looking at my phone, just saying" Haechan rolled his eyes as he opened his mouth to talk.

"First of all, it hurts to admit but this clever plan was Jaemin's idea, not mine. Secondly, you're underestimating my acting abilities"

"Are you sure ignoring him will work though? Wouldn't it have the opposite affect on him?" The answer to that came from the creator of the plan.

"Oh no, Renjun. Your innocence is so cute but it's clear you don't know how these things work. Think about it, there is someone on you all the time, not leaving you and following you around as if he is your tail-"

"Hey! I'm here you know?"

"Yeah and you know, I'm telling the truth because you enjoy driving him mad. Anyways, as I was saying, one day that tail is just vanishing. No explanation, no warning, it's just being gone out of nowhere. Wouldn't it make your curious? Why did he change so suddenly? Is there a problem? An then you start to investigate. As you investigate you see the other traits of that tail. The ones that are there other than just annoying you and then BOOM!" He made an explosion effect with his hands "You live happily ever after" Jaemin's exaggerated hand movements and the weird voice he used while talking came back to normal as he finished his sentence. 

Three of them were leaving the area that was provided by the stools just as Mr.Ten and Taeyong were walking in. They acknowledged them with their heads and then the two oldest were left şn the stool as the youngers made their way towards the stairs.

"Where are we going?" asked Renjun, as he didn't know the place and his only plan was to follow the other three.

"There is a mall in the next building. We will meet Mark there and we can check out the stores in there until he comes. He probably won't be coming for the next hour or so"

As the four dancers got closer to the gates of the buildings they came face to face with the pouring rain. They only had their studio's jumper on them and it certainly didn't have a hat.

"We can run? It won't even take five minutes for us to go there"

"No we can't, can you imagine Mr.Ten's face if we come back for the competition soaking wet?"

"Maybe the rain will stop until we come back? And we would have enough time to dry in the mall anyways"

"You are really clever when it comes to meeting your crush, aren't you?" Jaemin said rolling his eyes.

"The dance captain is with us, isn't he supposed to be the responsible one? Wouldn't he get in trouble if we did that?"

"Well, at least there is one person who cares about me. Thank you Renjun" Haechan turned towards the black haired boy looking straight in his eyes.

"I am right though? It wouldn't matter as long as we came in the time, even if it rains we can easily dry up. There is unnecessary amount of hair dryers as well as straighteners and other hot air providing things in the dance bags anyways"

"That is true. I don't think there is much ways for us to spend three hours here anyways, other than watching the other routines"

"Exactly! I'm sure Mr. Ten and Taeyong will be doing enough of that anyways. And if we get in trouble we have the dance captain with us, so we won't be the main target of the scolding. Perfect idea, right?" Jaemin and Renjun couldn't help but giggle at the light brown haired boy in front of them. Jeno just glared at him but that couldn't last for longer than a couple of seconds anyways so everything was good.

The next thing they knew, they were running under the rain, splashing water with their feet as they tried to protect their heads as much as they could with their jumpers. Rain was fast and they were running which made it almost impossible for them to open their eyes. Renjun could barely follow the feet in front of him.

Four friends got under the big umbrellas that were put in front of the mall in order to take a few breaths. It has been about three minutes but they were looking as if they have been under the rain for at least half an hour.

Renjun lifted his hands from his knees standing upright. He came eye to eye with Jaemin. His pink hair was seemed darker than usual and it was covering almost all of his eyesight. Renjun guessed that he wasn't much different as well, he was looking at earth between his almost white strands of hair. The more they were eye to eye with Jaemin the more Renjun wanted to laugh and he could tell Jaemin was feeling the same way from the way his mouth was twitching slightly. Suddenly both of them bursted out laughing, Jeno and Haechan joined them in no time. They must have been looking very odd from the outside, four boys soaked in rain laughing like there was no tomorrow, but none of them were in the situation to care about that.

"Dude, I really hate getting wet. I mean, I'm sure that I still look great but it is so uncomfortable" Jaemin said, putting extra effort while saying "so"

"You think they will let us in the mall like this? We are pretty much walking waterfalls"

"Well, we don't have much of a choice. It is freezing out here and I don't want to get a cold in the competition season" Jeno, being his rational self, led the others towards the doors. By the time they were in the mall the rain has settled down, only drizzling a little.

"If we left five minutes later we could have been actually dry"

"Well at least we will be dry when we get back"

"If the rain doesn't start again"

"Be a little optimistic Renjun will you?" Renjun sent a sarcastic smile towards the brown haired boy. Jaemin clapped his hands getting the attention of them.

"Ok, what are we doing now? I don't know about you but I can use some caffeine" Haechan rolled his eyes at the pink haired.

"You literally get high on caffeine, I swear I will not be the one dealing with your caffeine-drunk ass" Jaemin turned his back at him slightly wiggling his butt "Too bad you already are"

Renjun laughed at the scene unfolding in front of him. When he first met with Jaemin he had thought that the younger had a cold personality. He was never rude or anything he was just not being so active other than dancing. However as he got to know him he realized that it was just his shield against the world. He was much more introverted than you would have expected from someone who constantly went on dates with girls. Jaemin had this extremely childish, almost as stupid as Haechan kind of side to his personality that he was only showing to people he was close with. Renjun was glad to be one of those people now.

"Ok then Jaemin wants coffee and I can use some as well. I also want to go to bookstore though"

"It works for me as long as you don't leave Jaemin with me in the bookstore"

Four dancers walked around looking for a coffee shop and quickly gave their orders when they found it. From there they made their way towards the bookshop, Jeno almost finding the place as if he has put it there with his own hands.

"For someone who has been here only once, you finding the bookshop this fast is concerning me" Haechan commented as he took a sip out of his way too sugared drink for Renjun's liking.

"When I like things, I remember them. I like bookshops so I remember their places most of the time. Also it's not easy to forget you throwing up in that trash can" Jeno said as he showed a trash can that was put next to a bench. Jaemin bursted out laughing as Haechan rolled his eyes and Renjun almost choked on his drink as he didn't expected that.

"Jaemin is also as guilty as me. He was the one who challenged me to a pirouette battle right after we had our meal" Both Jaemin and Renjun's laughs echoed in the mall, Jeno's one joining them a beat later. 

"Yeah, whatever you guys coming in or not?"

"The last time I went into bookstore with you, you kept showing me different books explaining everything in them and you seemed like you were mad or something. I expected that purple cat to come out of somewhere saying 'we're all mad here' or whatever. I'm not going there again"

"As much as it hurts to admit I agree with Haechan on that. We'll be in the next store"Jaemin said showing a party shop. Renjun was doubting their abilities to come out from there as in one piece.

"I'll come with you" he said to Jeno, shrugging his shoulders.

"You nerds have your fun there" Haechan said, stretching the last syllable way much more than necessary.

"You don't have to come with me you know? Wouldn't be the first time for me to go to a bookshop alone"

"I'd rather be in the bookshop with you than being there when Haechan explodes that place" Renjun said and added while grinning "Also I'd like to see our calm, relaxed captain in a mad state"

"I just love books a little more than casual people do, that's it. They were just exaggerating"

The moment they walked in the bookshop Renjun could tell the difference in Jeno. His eyes were looking everywhere as if he was a predator looking for its prey. Except Jeno wasn't going to be eating the books "I hope that's not what Haechan meant as being mad" Renjun thought.

"So, are you looking for something specific or?"

"A sequel to one of my favorite books has come out, I'm looking for that" he then started to walk towards the shelves that had their genre names on top of them. Jeno stopped in front of the "Fantasy/Sci-Fi" shelves, carefully looking at the books, reading their titles and touching a few of them as if they were the most precious things on earth.

"It's not here, maybe it's in the new releases isle" Jeno practically vanished in front of Renjun's eyes, quickly making his way towards a desk that was put in the middle. There was an orange sign on it saying "NEW RELEASES" Renjun slowly made his way towards there as Jeno was looking through the books, looking for the sequel.

"Found it!" Jeno's slight scream caused a few pair of eyes to turn their way which made Renjun stop in his tracks before going to Jeno. Maybe it was better if he acted like he didn't know him.

"Renjun! Come on" Renjun wasn't a mean friend so he accepted his faith and made his way towards the taller boy.

"Look! I found it! I can't wait to read it, the other book had this extreme cliffhanger at the end-"

"Jeno, maybe try to breathe in between the words?"

"Right, sorry. Anyways..."

Renjun followed Jeno to the cashier as he went on and on about the universe of the book, how greatly it was explained and how much he liked the characters. He was listening to him, of course but he was also sure that he wasn't going to remember any of it, especially because Jeno was talking so fast.

Jeno kept on talking as he did the payment and got his book from the cashier. Renjun sent an apologizing look to the employee and dragged Jeno out of the store. 

Renjun was just about to remind Jeno to breathe once again but with the sight in front of them Jeno has already stopped talking and was just looking straight ahead.

"We got kicked out" Jaemin said like it was the most normal thing in the world as he picked out a few confetti pieces from Haechan's hair. Haechan also lifted his arm to brush off a pair of heart shaped papers from Jaemin's shoulder.

"I've guessed" Jeno said as he kept on watching the other two.

"Look! They let me keep this!" Haechan took out a bubble machine from his pocket and started to shoot out bubbles. Renjun was scared of what else could happen until Mark came.


	14. Chapter 14

"I don't think I'll ever get used to the feeling of liquid paint on my face" Jeno said lifting his hand to scratch above his eyebrow, being careful to not ruin the paint on face.

"Jeno, if you keep playing with your eye and mess up that paint I'm not doing it again and you'll have to deal with it on your own" Jeno quickly took his hand away from his face when he heard Haechan, he would definitely end up blind if he tried to do this on his own.

Renjun took the paper that has been cut by Mr. Ten and Taeyong and put it around his eye to see how it looked. The paper's shape was starting from right below his eyebrow and covering his whole eye. He wasn't sure if the shapes that were going from his eye towards his ear was suppose to be wings or fire but either way it was adding a great spice to their costumes. Their area was filled with dancers who were helping each other with filling in the shapes and a few directly leaning into the mirror doing their own.

"Need help?" Renjun turned his head towards Jeno who was holding a small paint container filled with red paint and a small brush "If you will not mess up"

Renjun held the paper firmly around his left eye as Jeno dipped the brush in red paint. He started painting from the corners and did a thick outline of the shape. Renjun slightly flinched when the cold paint made contact with his skin, causing Jeno to smile lightly "You can take off the paper now, there is just filling left" Renjun closed his eyes after taking off the paper, letting Jeno paint his eyelid too. When he heard Jeno telling him it was done, he checked it from the mirror and felt satisfied that it was identical with other dancers of their studio. 

His eyes met with Jeno's through the mirror and it reminded him of the first day he came to the studio for auditions. He smiled at the black haired boy in the mirror and turned his attention to Haechan in the background hitting Jaemin's head to keep him in place while he painted his face.

"You're stabbing me in the eye with that brush!"

"There will not be any problem if you just keep still and stop moving around!" Renjun and Jeno made their way towards their friends before one of them decided to put actual blood stains on their costumes other than the design. Once Haechan was done with Jaemin's face he turned to Jeno "You think Mark found his way to the audience?"

"He would have called if he couldn't" Jeno answered, shrugging his shoulders. After they met with Mark at the mall they got carried away with time so they had to race their way to the convention center and the four dancers had to get ready so Mark went alone to find the room with the stage and the audience.

"Are you all ready? We are heading to the wings in five minutes" All the dancers' attention was drawn to Mr. Ten whose eyes were traveling through the crowd of the dancers in the small space making sure everything was alright. Confirmative words buzzed in the small area and the team started to empty the stools.

Renjun felt the excitement going through his body as he took his steps. This was the first time he was going to be dancing with another team in his whole dancing career and he could feel that slight nervousness along the excitement. He was still getting used to this city, to this studio and to his new teammates. As they filled the right wing of the stage he made sure to not let the crumbs of doubt take over his mind.

Their rival team took their place on the stage as Mr. Ten checked the dancers costumes and faces making sure everything was okay. He fixed the front of Jaemin's hair that apparently didn't have enough hair spray on it "I'll see if there is hair spray anywhere close" 

The rival team has just started their routine when Mr. Ten came back with a bottle of hair spray in his hands, spraying much more than necessary on Jaemin's pink locks. He made small touches to Haechan's hair as well and moved onto the next innocent soul to cover their hair with more of the sticky substance.

"Can you see him in the audience?" Haechan was digging his elbow into Renjun's belly, pointing at the seats in front of the stage with his head. They could only see a few of the front rows from where they stood and Renjun couldn't find the familiar face they were looking for.

"He is probably in the back rows. Don't worry you can still show off your dancing" he said jokingly earning himself a harsh dig in his abdomen area.

The dancers on the stage were coming to the end of their routine as the song started to fade away. Renjun watched the dancers moving to their final positions and the audience that consisted of the parents of the dancers and choreographers of various studios started clapping. The judges, who were sitting behind a desk right in front of the stage, took down a few of last notes and written down their points.

The rival team's dancers moved to the wings on the other side of the stage most of them lowering themselves down to floor to rest. With the name "SM Dance Studios" echoing through the room with their performance number twelve dancers made their way to the stage taking their starting positions. Bright stage lights were making the stage even hotter causing dancers to sweat just from where they stood. When the first note of the song came through the speakers dancers started the routine just like they have practiced for months.

"The group that is going to be competing tomorrow for nationals is..." Jeno held his breath as he waited for the judge who was leaning in the microphone to announce the group. He has watched the other team's routine really carefully and has seen how great they were. Don't get him wrong, he didn't have doubt in his teammates, he knew they were amazing but he couldn't help his nervousness as the two teams were standing on two sides of the stage waiting for the winner to be announced. He just wished that the judge who was talking could be a little faster.

He wiped his sweaty hands to the bottom of his costume trying to seem not as nervous as he was feeling. He was the dance captain, he had to keep his cool. He checked to audience with hopes to see a familiar face and found him smiling towards the stage. Mark gave him thumbs up when they came eye to eye, relieving some of the tenseness in Jeno.

"The one who will be competing tomorrow is... SM Dance Studios. Congratulations" Jeno didn't move an inch from his place until Jaemin grabbed his arm to pull him into a group hug with the rest of their teammates. The group of dancers were slightly jumping as they turned around holding each other strong "There is still tomorrow" Jeno thought but then he let himself feel the happiness radiating from his friends for the moment, tomorrow could wait a little.

The crowds claps died down as both the teams left the stage. Mr. Ten and Taeyong congratulated all of them and they quickly made their way back to their stool, grabbing their regular clothes to get rid of the costumes that has started to stick on their bodies with sweat. 

"Jeno, could you try to maybe seem a little more happy? Yes, it might not have been the biggest success we've had but still we took a step towards there. We can worry about tomorrow's competition tomorrow"

"I am happy" Jeno answered his brown haired friend, emphasising the "am"

"It's just, I can't help it. I keep thinking about how much we still have until we go back to where we were last year and how many possibilities of screwing up we have and-"

"First of all stop babbling, it's annoying. Second, it's normal to be worried but you're overdoing it. I know it's connected to last years competition and I know this will not go away with the blink of an eye but you can't let this keep you away from enjoying the small successes" Jaemin pulled his head through hole of the shirt that had the studio's emblem in front of it and looked Jeno in the eyes. The paint on his face has gotten smudged a little because of its interaction with the fabric.

"Look, I'm not telling you to suppress your actual feelings, don't get me wrong, but what happened last year was last year. You can't let it keep you away from enjoying today"

"Yeah, you're right. I'll try"

"Cool, now let's go find Mark and then eat something. I'm starving" 

However, Mark found them before they even had to chance to get rid of the smudged paints on their faces. He found his way to the boys in the crowded place enthusiastically screaming "You all were amazing!"

Haechan acted as if he didn't care and grabbed a wet wipe from the desk near him, starting to erase the paint on his face. Jeno went towards the older thanking him but he could see how Mark's eyes lingered on Haechan just a second longer than the rest, almost as if he wanted to say something. Maybe Jaemin's idea wasn't that bad after all.

Mr. Taeyong announced that the bus would be ready in half an hour and showed the bags in the middle filled with wrapped sandwiches for the dancers, with a couple of boxes on the side that juices could be seen in. Dancers filling the space raced towards the food as if they haven't been eating for days, some hadn't even bothered to erase their make ups.

"Are you staying at Jeno's for the night?" Jaemin asked the oldest in their small circle, all of them munching on their sandwiches.

"Yep, didn't want to go back all the way just to come again tomorrow "

After that all of them finished their sandwiches in silence. Jeno realized that Haechan has always been the one to make the conversation run smoothly. He looked over the brown haired boy who was inspecting his sandwich as if its the most interesting thing he has seen in his life. He could tell that Haechan was forcing himself to not to talk, he didn't understand why he has stopped talking fully though. His plan was to ignore Mark not all of them, right?

Haechan himself must have realized it as well which caused him to turn to Renjun "So Renjun! What are your thoughts on competing with us? Even if we couldn't make it to internationals you must admit we are quite good, right?"

Renjun, surprised from the sudden attention on him, seemed a little startled at first. Jeno would be lying if he said that he wasn't curious on the same topic as well. He for sure enjoyed having Renjun on the stage with him, with the team, and he was hoping that the feeling was mutual.

"I never doubted how good you were, we were rivals on nationals finals, of course you were great. I have to say I did feel a little weird at first, after dancing with the same people for so long, this was big change. I'm happy with how it turned out though. We all were great as a team, I think"

"We were. The team is definitely more of a unity than last year" After Jeno's words Mr. Ten's voice echoed between the dancers, informing them that the bus was ready.

"Tomorrow, same time at the studio. Rest well tonight. You all were great today, let's keep this up for tomorrow as well"


End file.
